Physical Geography Visiting Assistant Professor

Working Title: Physical Geography Visiting Assistant Professor

State Role Title:N/A

Position Type:Instructional / Teaching Faculty

Position Status: FullTime

FLSA Status: Exempt: Not Eligible for Overtime

College/Division: College of Integrated Science and Engineering

Department: 100060 Integrated Science and Technology

Pay Rate:Commensurate with Experience

Specify Range or Amount:

Is this a JMU only positionNo

Is this a grantfunded positionNo

Is this a Conflict of Interest designated positionNo

Beginning Review Date:05/20/2025

About JMU:

Mission
We are a community committed to preparing students to be educated and enlightened citizens who lead productive and meaningful lives.

Vision
To be the national model for the engaged university: engaged with ideas and the world.

Who We Are
Located in the heart of Virginias beautiful Shenandoah Valley the city of Harrisonburg is approximately 120 miles from Washington D.C. and Richmond VA. With a population of just over 53000 Harrisonburg is one of the most diverse communities in the Commonwealth of Virginia. JMU is a selective public institution with a growing national reputation for offering experiences that lead to an outstanding education and inclusive environment for students faculty and staff. The student body includes approximately 20000 undergraduate and 1900 graduate students with over 1000 fulltime instructional faculty.

JMU offers thriving programs in the liberal arts science and technology and professional disciplines at the undergraduate masters and doctoral levels. The university is committed to expanding diversity fostering equity and inclusion and supporting superlative teaching and scholarship. JMU has achieved national recognition for the high quality of its academic programs focus on maintaining strong student/faculty interaction and innovative faculty research.

General Information:

We invite applications for a oneyear Visiting Assistant Professor position in Physical Geography within the School of Integrated Sciences (SIS) and its thriving Geography program. SIS supports innovative and dynamic academic careers for 40 faculty rooted in our constituent undergraduate programsGeography Integrated Science and Technology (ISAT) and Intelligence Analysisalong with growing graduate programs. SIS is a vibrant inclusive and supportive culture embracing innovation collaboration humility and student engagement. We prioritize balance and positive impact through integration of teaching and research of disciplines of difference. For more information about SIS please visit: position focuses on the curricular needs of the Geography undergraduate program within SIS particularly in physical and environmental geography and supports an ongoing enhancement of our academic capacities in sustainability. This is a compelling area for leadership for Geography: we are an academic community that prioritizes imaginative boundarycrossing scholarship often with a problemcentric focus. We integrate science technology and the human dimension into engagement with environmental challenges.

Recently recognized with the national AAG Award for Program Excellence our Geography program serves around 200 majors and 90 minors. Students value our core strengths across the discipline in physical human naturesociety geographies and geospatial technologies. Wellresourced labs support faculty research and students expertise in physical geography techniques and computing technology. Geography faculty are committed to bringing their diverse and externally supported work to the classroom and beyond. Current faculty focus on areas such as urban climatology land cover change remote sensing infrastructure geopolitics humanitarian applications of geospatial technologies and more with both global and local applications.

Duties and Responsibilities:

For this visiting position our new faculty will be able to teach our core Physical Geography course as well as offer upperlevel courses in areas of expertise (especially those listed below) and potentially our General Education course. A typical teaching load is three courses per semester and there are numerous opportunities for creativity in curricular development. We value a global perspective with local connections and support the development of regional and international field experiences.

We are open to a range of physical geographical subfields but are particularly interested in scholarly expertise in one or more of the following areas: biogeography wildlife/biodiversity studies landscape ecology agriculture/food systems climate science applied/critical physical geography and/or water resources/hydrology.

As well as contributing to their primary programmatic home in Geography our faculty participate in service activities to support the school college and university and their professional community. We strongly support engaged learning community engagement and civic engagement.

Qualifications:

A Ph.D. in hand is preferred but those with ABD status will also be considered. The completed or pursued Ph.D. must be in Geography or a closely related field with a background physical geography.

While research interests may focus on a wide variety of geographical subfields (see Duties and Responsibilities) ideal candidates should demonstrate experience connecting their work with others to collaboratively address complex multiscale environmental problems.

We are particularly interested in individuals who:
have a commitment to excellence in undergraduate geography teaching and research
demonstrate an ability to work as part of an interdisciplinary team
have the interest in or ability to incorporate geospatial technology in teaching and student research.

Additional Posting Information:

The following documents are required for application:
Cover letter
CV
Statement of Teaching Philosophy

JMUs Dual Career and Community Resources Program is available for candidates that will be relocating to the area. For more information please visit of Employment:

Employment is contingent upon the successful completion of a criminal background check.

EVerify Notice: After accepting employment new hires are required to complete an I9 form and present documentation of their identity and eligibility to work in the United States. James Madison University uses the EVerify system to confirm identity and work authorization.

EEO Statement:

James Madison University is committed to creating and supporting a diverse and inclusive work and educational community that is free of all forms of discrimination. This institution does not tolerate discrimination or harassment on the basis of age color disability gender identity or expression genetic information national origin parental status political affiliation race religion sex sexual orientation or veteran status.

We promote access inclusion and diversity for all students faculty staff constituents and programs believing that these qualities are foundational components of an outstanding education in keeping with our mission. The university is interested in candidates whose experience and qualifications support an ongoing commitment to this core quality.

Anyone having questions concerning discrimination should contact the Office for Equal Opportunity: (540).

Reasonable Accommodation:

If you are an individual with a disability and need assistance searching or applying for jobs please contact us at (540)or You may also visit the JMU Human Resource Office located at 752 Ott Street Harrisonburg VA 22807 and we will be happy to assist you.