Early Childhood Education Faculty​/HSPP Coordinator

Position Information

Faculty members serve multiple roles as teachers, mentors, colleagues, scholars, and manage special projects or programs. Full‑time faculty are responsible for instruction, assessment, advising, and committee work and are active members in service to the college. This position is under the supervision of the academic chair. This is a grant‑funded position.

Faculty members are expected to be effective teachers and excel in course instruction.

Effective teaching requires content expertise. Faculty must demonstrate deep subject knowledge, including key concepts, current and relevant research, methodologies, tools and techniques, and meaningful applications. Faculty members are expected to:

• Possess thorough and accurate knowledge of their specific field/discipline, including the ability to evaluate and apply content.
• Be committed to professional development by keeping current in their respective discipline.
• Maintain faculty credentials as required by the college’s accrediting agencies.

Effective teaching reflects sound instructional methods. Faculty instructional methods are drawn from the scholarship of teaching and learning and cultivate a supportive learning environment that allows students to think critically and experiment with material. Faculty members are expected to:

• Identify and develop instructional materials; plan and organize instruction to enhance student learning; create appropriate assignments to encourage student learning, the development of communication skills, and higher‑order thinking; and use available instructional technology.
• Use proven methods of engagement and assessment that facilitate student mastery of the content.
• Provide constructive, encouraging, and corrective student feedback.
• Evaluate student learning by creating and applying course competencies and accurately evaluate student progress.
• Strive to increase teaching effectiveness through the application of appropriate teaching and learning strategies; evaluate student learning and modify instructional methods and strategies to meet diverse student needs.

Effective teaching communicates successfully. Effective teaching clearly articulates high, achievable, and purposeful expectations. Effective teaching adeptly guides meaningful course activities, allowing students to advance their knowledge or skills. Faculty members are expected to:

• Demonstrate interpersonal and communication skills that result in clear communication of subject matter to students.
• Provide timely, substantive feedback in appropriate forms.

Effective teachers should meet institutional expectations. Faculty members are expected to:

• Meet classes as scheduled, notify the academic chair in advance if they are to be absent, and make appropriate arrangements for their courses (substitute instructors, assignments, projects, etc.).
• Be accessible to students through email, video conferencing technology, scheduled office hours, or by arranging additional appointment times.
• Prepare and distribute syllabi per established academic procedures and guidelines.
• Assess their courses through formative and summative assessment practices, make appropriate adjustments to the curriculum, and develop action plans for the courses they teach.
• Maintain accurate student records and promptly provide final grades, attendance, and other required information.

The HSPP is a five‑year, grant‑funded program that supports students who want to work in an early childhood education setting. Students in the program pursue an associate’s degree at WETCC and a bachelor’s degree at the University of Minnesota‑Crookston (UMN‑C).

• Advise and mentor students in the Head Start Pathways Program (HSPP).
• Consult, plan, organize, and facilitate HSSP activities.
• Coordinate the program with WETCC staff, UMN‑C staff, White Earth Head Start Programs, and other area early childhood programs to ensure program goals are met.
• Recruit students, monitor their progress, and apply retention strategies.
• Track students’ progress.
• Lead the HSPP working group to ensure program success.
• Prepare and submit HSPP grant reports and budgets.