Science Job Opportunities

The Thomas F. Frist, Jr. College of Medicine at Belmont University is seeking a Microbiologist to be a core faculty member as a Scientist Educator in the Department of Medical Education. This is a full-time faculty position at the rank of assistant, associate, or professor.

Primary Duties and Responsibilities: 

• Contribute to the development, delivery, and assessment of case-based, student-centered, curriculum for pre-clinical medical students
• Collaborate with an interprofessional and interdisciplinary faculty team to develop clinical cases that integrate biomedical, social, and health systems sciences to foster student inquiry, acquisition, and application of knowledge to patient care
• Participate as a small-group co-facilitator for the pre-clinical curriculum
• Provide academic support as needed for students
• Serve as a role-model in support of a positive learning environment, professionalism, and life-long learning.
• Mentor students with special interests in discipline-specific scholarly activity. At Belmont University, a variety of scholarly productivity is valued, including scholarship of discovery, integration, teaching and application.  Scholarly productivity in the area of medical education will be highly valued.

Required Education: 

• D. or M.D. from an accredited university. Ph.D. should be in microbiology, immunology, or other relevant field.  M.D. should have training relevant to the field of microbiology/immunology. 

Located two miles from downtown Nashville, Tennessee, Belmont University consists of nearly 8,800 students who come from every state and 33 countries. Consistently recognized by U.S. News & World Report for innovation and commitment to undergraduate teaching, Belmont brings together the best of liberal arts and professional education in a Christ-centered and student-focused community of learning and service. As a campus that aims to Let Hope Abound, the University is committed to producing graduates who are Hope Inspiring, Character Forming, Future Shaping, Community Engaging and Bridge Building people. With more than 115 areas of undergraduate study, 41 master’s programs and five doctoral degrees, there is no limit to the ways Belmont University can expand an individual's horizon. Belmont University is an equal opportunity employer committed to fostering a diverse learning community of committed Christians from all racial and ethnic backgrounds. Consistent with applicable civil rights law, the University seeks employees of Christian faith who are committed to the mission of the University. Belmont’s Office of Human Resources will conduct ongoing evaluations of the means by which candidates for employment are sought, to the end that the pool of candidates will include qualified women, minorities, veterans and disabled individuals.

Application submission. Review of applications will begin immediately.

Please direct any questions to:

Marilyn E. Thompson Odom, Ph.D.
Chair, Department of Medical Education

(615) 460-5109

Marilyn.odom@belmont.edu

All inquiries will be confidential.

Enhanced Faculty Development Opportunities

Disruptions to research and shifting balances of teaching expectations with the move to remote learning could result in reduced productivity and potentially break the rhythm that faculty need to sustain their creative, scholarly, and research activities. 

• To meet this need, the Office of the Provost will sponsor additional cohorts in the Faculty Success Program and the post-tenure Pathfinders program of the National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity. NCFDD offers the programs several times a year. To learn more, visit their website, and contact Vice Provost Tim Holbrook in the Office of Faculty Affairs if you are interested in joining a cohort. 

Affording Faculty Time

For faculty for whom time for scholarship is the most precious resource, shifts to remote learning and disruption of travel and writing time could be the most significant impacts. 

• A postdoctoral fellow program in the humanities, social sciences, and other areas with intensive semester-long classroom teaching responsibilities will afford greater scholarship time for faculty. A key issue that arose from faculty town halls held in the fall is that faculty need more time to devote to their research. To address this challenge, deans of schools and colleges with intensive classroom teaching obligations may request resources to support hiring postdoctoral fellows to provide additional teaching resources that can be used to reassign faculty time from teaching to research. Postdoctoral fellows may also provide research support that can enhance faculty research productivity. The university will support up to 14 postdoctoral positions each year, beginning in 2021. The Office of the Provost is working with deans’ offices to implement this program.  
  
  
• The Office of the Provost will sponsor writing retreats beginning in summer 2021 to aid faculty as they jump start (or restart) their scholarship during and after the pandemic. Retreats may be virtual if public health conditions warrant such, although efforts to convene in person will be a high priority.
  
  
• The Office of the Provost will support hiring teaching assistants to reduce the significant investments of faculty time required by both remote teaching and modified in-person teaching. Faculty have expressed a strong interest in having teaching assistants to help facilitate the classroom experience in terms of technology, such as monitoring Zoom chats, etc., and faculty who have recently used such TAs spoke favorably of their impact. The Office of the Provost will set aside a pool of resources to support broadening this effort. Interested faculty should address questions to Vice Provost Tim Holbrook in the Office of Faculty Affairs.

Adjustments for Lost Resources

COVID-19’s impact on financial support may be a significant concern to two specific faculty cohorts: those involved in the tenure and promotion process and faculty concerned with specialized research needs. 

• The Office of the Provost will provide funds to backfill pay raises an extra year for those faculty members availing themselves of the tenure clock extension.This is subject to the discretion of the dean and the normal compensation practices of the schools and colleges. Impacted faculty should speak with their department chair or associate dean. Schools and colleges will address tenure-and-promotion associated pay increases as they normally would. 
• The Office of the Provost has set aside a COVID mitigation fund of up to $300,000 to provide replenishment of lost funds or funding for additional COVID-related costs. This fund may be used to assist faculty members who have faced research disruptions such as the delayed use of start-up funds, greater equipment needs, needs for specialized and additional PPE, or losses of opportunities bearing financial impact. Funding requests are capped at $20,000, and faculty need to demonstrate that they have exhausted other resources in their schools and other Emory units. For more information, contact Vice Provost Tim Holbrook in the Office of Faculty Affairs.

Other Interventions

Faculty might have lost important time not only for writing and productivity but also for discovery of funding opportunities.

• The Office of the Provost will increase support for retreats specifically devoted to securing support from foundations. In partnership with the Office of Foundation Relations, the retreats will introduce faculty to funding opportunities through foundations. This measure is intended to broaden the support base for faculty research. For details, watch for campus-wide announcements, and contact Vice Provost Tim Holbrook in the Office of Faculty Affairs.