Job Information
Montana State University Assistant Professor and Writing Program Director in Bozeman, Montana
Position Details
Position Information
Announcement Number FAC - VA - 25040
For questions regarding this position, please contact:
Mandy Hansen
Business Operations Manager
406-994-3768
mkhansen@montana.edu or english@montana.edu
Classification Title
Working Title Assistant Professor and Writing Program Director
Brief Position Overview
The English Department at Montana State University (Bozeman) seeks a tenure-track assistant professor in Rhetoric and Writing Studies with an administrative appointment as Writing Program Director. This hire, with an open research specialization in RWS (preference for technical communication or related areas), will provide critical leadership and management for our general-education writing courses and teach in the Writing Option within our English major. This position includes a 2/1 teaching load and a summer stipend for administrative duties.
Faculty Tenure Track Yes
Faculty Rank Assistant
Position Number 4A4099
Department English
Division College of Letters & Science
Appointment Type Faculty
Contract Term Academic Year
Semester
If other, specify From date
If other, specify End date
Union Affiliation Exempt from Collective Bargaining
FTE 1.0
Benefits Eligible Eligible
Salary Salary commensurate with experience, education, and qualifications
Contract Type MUS
If other, please specify
Recruitment Type Open
Position Details
General Statement
The English Department at Montana State University (Bozeman), the state’s land-grant R1 university and its largest campus, seeks a tenure-track assistant professor in Rhetoric and Writing Studies (preferred research specialization in technical communication or related subfields), with an administrative appointment as Writing Program Director. The Director leads and manages curriculum development, assessment and placement, and faculty development for the university’s required College Writing I ( WRIT 101) course as well as College Writing II ( WRIT 201) and Intermediate Technical Writing ( WRIT 221), courses required by some colleges and majors.
This faculty member will teach 2/1 in the department’s broad-field Writing Option, which offers English majors and Writing minors a wide range of genre- and theory-oriented coursework in rhetoric and writing studies. As a humanities department on a STEM - and Ag-driven campus, we are eager to expand collaborations across campus around writing in the sciences and science journalism, including other areas related to technology in Writing Studies.
The Department of English values all perspectives and is committed to continually supporting, promoting, and building a whole community, which includes people of many backgrounds.
Duties and Responsibilities
This is a nine-month faculty position with a 2/1 course load and an administrative stipend for summer responsibilities.
Curricular Development and Assessment: Overseeing WRIT 101 College Writing I, WRIT 201 College Writing II, and WRIT 221 Intermediate Technical Writing, ensuring these courses remain current, effective, and responsive to evolving pedagogical trends and student needs. Of particular interest is designing writing curriculum that addresses changing technologies, including generative AI.
Faculty Development and Supervision: Providing support and guidance to non-tenure-track ( NTT ) faculty, including hiring, evaluating, mentoring, and ongoing professional development.
University Engagement: Representing the Writing Program on the University’s Core Committee, contributing to placement mandates and implementation, and working on writing initiatives across the campus.
Collaboration: Collaborating with faculty, staff, and administrators to address writing-related concerns in advising and orientation and supporting student retention efforts.
Teaching responsibilities: This faculty member will teach within the Writing Option of the English major, in courses such as Professional Writing, Digital Rhetorics and Multimodal Writing, Science Writing, News Writing, and Magazine Editing and Production, as well as Intro to the Major, Research Capstone, and other required upper-division rhetorical theory and research methods courses. They will also be occasionally available to teach courses related to their expertise in the department’s M.A. program.
Research responsibilities commensurate with departmental tenure standards.
Required Qualifications – Experience, Education, Knowledge & Skills
Ph.D. in Rhetoric & Composition / Writing Studies.
Demonstrated experience in writing program administration or related leadership.
Established research program in Rhetoric or Writing Studies.
Demonstrated accomplishment in teaching.
Preferred Qualifications – Experience, Education, Knowledge & Skills
Research specialization in Technical Communication or related fields (e.g. digital writing & rhetoric, science journalism, climate change rhetorics).
Ability to design writing curricula with reference to evolving writing technologies such as generative AI, networked writing environments, and multimodal composing tools.
Two years experience in writing program administration or other leadership experience related to the candidate’s specialization.
Experience teaching upper-division (junior and senior-level) writing or rhetoric courses.
Demonstrated commitment to students, faculty, and staff from all backgrounds.
The Successful Candidate Will
Be a dynamic teacher, scholar, and leader.
Be able to mentor undergraduate and graduate students.
Be able to mentor faculty, especially non-tenure-track instructors in the Writing Program.
Have excellent written and oral communication skills.
Have effective interpersonal skills including the ability to communicate successfully and maintain cooperative working relationships with faculty, staff, and students across disciplines and colleges.
Demonstrate an appreciation for all constituencies, and the ability to help students from underrepresented backgrounds succeed.
Position Special Requirements/Additional Information
This job description should not be construed as an exhaustive statement of duties, responsibilities or requirements, but a general description of the job. Nothing contained herein restricts Montana State University’s rights to assign or reassign duties and responsibilities to this job at any time.
Physical Demands
To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily with or without reasonable accommodations. The requirements listed above are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required.
The Program
The Writing Program serves students across MSU by providing first-year writing instruction via a required first-year College Writing course (about 90 sections per year) plus sophomore-level instruction in College Writing and Technical Writing (about 20 sections of each per year). The Program is staffed primarily by 20 non-tenure-track faculty who the Director is responsible for hiring, evaluating, and providing professional development. With a non-tenure-track assistant director, the Director leads curriculum development and assessment and university initiatives relating to general-education writing instruction.
The Department
The Department of English constitutes a core academic discipline at Montana State University and contributes to the land-grant mission through instruction, research, service, and outreach. English faculty and students contribute to the College of Letters & Science mission of addressing the most pressing and complex issues facing our society, with a focus on interpretive and productive arts. With the College, we believe in a transformational education inspiring students to live responsibly, seek original answers, manage complexity, and effectively communicate. For us, this means creating spaces for students to study, research, and imagine ways of living, being, and interacting respectfully with others in and beyond the classroom. Our mission is to promote intellectual, ethical, and cultural inquiry for majors, minors, and students enrolled in core courses through the study of language and the creation and interpretation of texts. We read and write in community, exploring thinkers and ideas from all backgrounds, traditions, and places. Our outreach promotes human flourishing through the language arts in Montana and beyond.
The Department offers a BA degree with Writing, Literature, and English Education options; an MA in English Education; and an MA in English with an accelerated option.
Writing faculty are currently researching histories of literacy and racism in the U.S.; religious divisions in public rhetoric; feminist rhetorics; composition and research pedagogies; science communication and rural communities; and writing center theory and praxis and institutional ethnography. English faculty more broadly work in areas including creative writing, Western American literature, ecocriticism, dramaturgy, rural English education, and new literacies and multimedia in education. The Department also houses the Yellowstone Writing Project (a National Writing Project site) and collaborates with interdisciplinary endeavors such as MSU’s American Studies Program and the Ivan Doig Center for the Study of Lands and Peoples of the North American West.
The College
The College of Letters and Science (L&S), the largest center for learning, teaching and research at Montana State University, offers students an excellent liberal arts and sciences education in nearly 50 majors, 25 minors and over 25 graduate degrees within the four areas of the humanities, natural sciences, mathematics and social sciences.
Building on the great strength of our traditional disciplines, the college provides exciting opportunities for faculty and students at the cutting edge of interdisciplinary inquiry. L&S is dedicated to supporting student success, discovering and disseminating new knowledge, and providing an atmosphere in which discovery and learning are integrated and valued. L&S is at the confluence of intellectual tradition, discovery, and innovation.
Posting Detail Information
Number of Vacancies 1
Desired Start Date July 2025
Position End Date (if temporary)
Open Date
Close Date
Applications will be:
Screening of applications will begin November 21, 2024. We will continue to accept applications until the position is filled. Preliminary interviews, held via videoconference, are anticipated in early December.
Special Instructions
EEO Statement
Montana State University values diverse perspectives and is committed to continually supporting, promoting and building an inclusive and culturally diverse campus environment. MSU recognizes the importance of work-life integration and strives to be responsive to the needs of dual career couples (https://www.montana.edu/hr/recruitment-guidelines/dualcareer.html) .
Montana State University is committed to providing a working and learning environment free from discrimination. As such, the University does not discriminate in the admission, access to or conduct of its educational programs and activities nor in its employment policies and practices on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, ethnicity, creed, service in the uniformed services (as defined in state and federal law), veteran status, gender, age, political beliefs, marital or family status, pregnancy, physical or mental disability, genetic information, gender identity, gender expression, or sexual orientation or preference. In support of the University’s mission to be inclusive and diverse, applications from qualified minorities, women, veterans and persons with disabilities are highly encouraged.
Montana State University makes accommodation for any known disability that may interfere with an applicant’s ability to compete in the hiring process or an employee’s ability to perform the duties of the job. To request an accommodation, contact the Human Resources Office, PO Box 172520, Montana State University, Bozeman MT 59717-2520; 406-994-3651; recruitment@montana.edu .
In compliance with the Montana Veteran’s Employment Preference Act, MSU provides preference in employment to veterans, disabled veterans, and certain eligible relatives of veterans. To claim veteran’s preference please complete the veteran’s preference information located in the Demographics section of your profile.
MSU’s Non-Discrimination Policy and Discrimination Grievance Procedures can be located on the MSU Website: https://www.montana.edu/hr/recruitment-guidelines/affirmative_action_plan.html .
