Call for Applications:

Faculty Co-Director
GreenHouse Learning Community
Deadline: March 15, 2025
Tenured faculty preferred

Seeking a faculty member to join in the shared leadership of the GreenHouse residential learning community, a program located in Leopold Residence Hall. Each year approximately 92 first-year undergraduates participate in GreenHouse. The faculty co-directors, with the assistance of a program manager and Residence Life staff, lead this diverse community that serves as a welcoming environment where students interested in the environment and sustainability can build a strong community with each other and UW- Madison staff and faculty who share their interests. The faculty co-directors are responsible for instruction in the 1-credit GreenHouse Roots First Year Seminar. This faculty co-director appointment will begin July 1, 2025. Preference given to candidates who can provide a three-year minimum commitment. After, the appointment is renewable annually for up to a total of five years of continuous service. Salary support information is below.

About GreenHouse

GreenHouse was founded as a partnership between the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, the College of Letters and Sciences and University Housing to support students’ exploration of topics of sustainability. GreenHouse is a hands-on environment that includes many student-led initiatives throughout the year. Events and programs linked to experiential learning, food systems and environmental justice are popular offerings. On average, residents have weekly opportunities to participate in GreenHouse-sponsored events in addition to the seminar course. These events provide students with an array of learning opportunities while also helping to bring together a tight-knit community within a large school.

The GreenHouse Roots Seminar is a one-credit, graded class offered each fall and spring that fulfills the CALS first-year seminar requirement. The seminar challenges Greenhouse residents to think deeply about themselves and their place in the social and biophysical communities of which they are a part. Students also reflect on the meaning(s) of “sustainability” and consider how lifestyle and career choices impact other people and the environment. Students learn about the deep history of sustainability in Wisconsin as well as the current sustainability initiatives on the UW-Madison campus and in the greater Madison area, all while being introduced to resources, skills and knowledge that support a successful transition to college. The seminar is only open to GreenHouse Learning Community members.

Funding/Salary

Revenue for GreenHouse comes primarily from tuition dollars, University Housing auxiliary funds, the co-sponsoring colleges (CALS and L&S) and the housing student fee.

Ongoing annual support for each faculty co-director of up to $10,000 will start in July 2025. The application of these funds will be negotiated with the faculty co-director’s home department to provide a temporary base adjustment (TBA), summer salary and/or temporary release of other duties to facilitate the faculty member’s work in GreenHouse. GreenHouse also provides salary for a part-time academic staff program manager, who assists the faculty co-directors with an emphasis on coordinating the co-curricular programs and administration of GreenHouse.

GreenHouse Faculty Co-Director Responsibilities:

The major responsibilities of the faculty co-directors are to:

• Actively serve as core members of the “Leadership Team,” which leads and is responsible for the development and implementation of the program. This team typically meets weekly and also includes the GreenHouse program manager and University Housing/Residence Life staff. The annual cycle includes many critically important tasks, beginning with new student recruitment and ending with program evaluation.
• Lead, maintain, revise and assess curricular offerings for the learning community each semester. These seminars serve as the foundation for the learning community experience and typically meet later in the afternoon/early evening to maximize enrollment. The GreenHouse seminar for fall 2025 is tentatively scheduled for Wednesdays, 5:30-7:00pm. The faculty co-directors typically work together in offering the seminar courses.
• Work with the program manager on a regular basis; provide an annual performance review to the supervisor of record in the CALS Academic Affairs office.
• Facilitate the involvement of additional faculty and staff to enhance faculty/staff-student engagement in the community.
• Attend co-curricular signature events several times each semester. These events are usually on nights and weekends. 
• Facilitate engagement/investment by key campus stakeholders (especially co-sponsoring units for funding, seminars and program coordinator appointment) in the present and future of GreenHouse. Convene and facilitate a “steering committee” consisting of faculty, staff and students that meets at least semiannually.
• Work effectively with the other faculty co-director, currently Timothy Van Deelen, Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology.

To Apply:

Faculty who wish to be considered for this important role on campus should send the materials listed below to Brett Schieve (brett.schieve@wisc.edu), Assistant Dean for International and Experiential Learning in CALS, by March 15, 2025:

• A CV
• A brief statement of interest, including a description of your experience working with undergraduates, your interest in working with GreenHouse, and an explanation of how you would be effective in meeting the responsibilities outlined above. Please limit your response to 1000 words.

Questions about the position or GreenHouse program may be directed to Brett Schieve and/or:
Timothy Van Deelen (trvandeelen@wisc.edu), continuing faculty co-director 
Sarah Jacobsen (sjacobsen2@wisc.edu), GreenHouse Program Manager