George Mason University
Director of the STEM Accelerator
🇺🇸 Hybrid - Fairfax, VA
🕑 Full-Time
💰 TBD
💻 Operations
🗓️ November 21st, 2025
Edtech.com's Summary
George Mason University College of Science is hiring a Director of the STEM Accelerator. The Director leads efforts to advance pedagogical innovation, mentor graduate students and faculty, manage grants and budgets, and expand STEM education initiatives to elevate the value of teaching within the college.
Highlights
- Lead workshops and represent the Accelerator in university initiatives and public communications.
- Create, design, and implement faculty development workshops on STEM education topics like active learning and inclusive pedagogy.
- Manage Accelerator meetings, schedules, budgets, and grant administration to ensure timely task completion and compliance.
- Supervise faculty leaders and administer the Learning Assistants program.
- Conduct education research projects and mentor MS and PhD students in Discipline-Based Education Research (DBER).
- Coordinate with multiple College of Science committees and expand the Accelerator program internally and externally.
- Required qualifications include a Master’s degree or equivalent, 5+ years teaching experience in higher education, experience in grant and budget administration, strong communication skills, and commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
- Preferred qualifications include a terminal degree, 10+ years teaching experience, and 5+ years full-time college-level administration.
- Salary is commensurate with education and experience; criminal background check required.
- Department focuses on increasing STEM majors, improving retention, and supporting STEM graduates’ career paths.
Director of the STEM Accelerator Full Description
Department: College of Science
Classification: Administrative Faculty
Job Category: Administrative or Professional Faculty
Job Type: Full-Time
Work Schedule: Full-time (1.0 FTE, 40 hrs/wk)
Location: Fairfax, VA
Workplace Type: Hybrid Eligible
Sponsorship Eligibility: Not eligible for visa sponsorship
Salary: Salary commensurate with education and experience
Criminal Background Check: Yes
About the Department:The STEM Accelerator in the College of Science (COS) at George Mason University aims to be a national leader of innovative and effective STEM Education initiatives in higher education. Conceived in 2011 and with a unique interdisciplinary team of faculty and staff, the Accelerator works to increase the number of STEM majors, improve retention rates of STEM students, and help STEM graduates join the workforce or continue their education.
George Mason University College of Science (Mason Science) is committed to advancing inclusive excellence and fostering an environment free from discrimination, harassment, and retaliation throughout our STEM community. At Mason Science, our values include cultivating an organizational culture that promotes belonging, respect, and civility. We believe that varied opinions, cultures, and perspectives are what provides vibrancy, innovation and growth to an academic community. By prioritizing cultural responsiveness in academics, teaching, research, and global engagement, we strive to attract faculty and staff who exemplify the Mason Science mission and vision.
About the Position:
The Director of the STEM Accelerator is responsible for reaching the following 5 goals:Contributes to the growing body of literature on STEM education;Advances pedagogical innovation, teaching assessment, and peer evaluation;Be recognized as an educational role model and mentor to new faculty and Graduate Teaching Assistants in the College of Science;Mentors MS and PhD students in STEM education and discipline-based education research; andElevates the value of teaching in the College of Science.
Responsibilities:
Represents the Accelerator for both university initiatives and public-facing communications, and leads workshops to address the evolving landscape of science education;Creates, designs, recruits, and implements faculty development workshops connecting to any and all areas of STEM education, including such concepts as active learning, innovations in assessment, and inclusive pedagogy;Manages Accelerator meetings and responsible for scheduling, chairing, and keeping records of Accelerator meetings;Administers Accelerator grants by ensuring that tasks within the scope of effort are accomplished in a timely fashion and that expenditures are within budgeted allocations;Ensures grant proposals contain necessary line items such as personnel, travel, conference costs, equipment, space renovations, equipment maintenance, etc.;Manages Accelerator budget by checking expenditures from Accelerator budgets are within the budgeted allocations;Reviews Accelerator budgets and expenditures with the College of Science;Pursues funding opportunities that will increase the capacity of the Accelerator;Manages the LA (Learning Assistants) program;Supervises individual faculty leaders;Directs workshops for faculty and student participants;Applies and advocates for funding to support the program;Coordinates expansion of the program to other Colleges at Mason;Leads efforts to assess and evaluate the effectiveness of the program;Coordinates data collection and analysis regarding programs, especially those involving the community beyond Mason, such as FOCUS, Noyce, STEM Bridge, and Women Leaders in STEM;Leads and contributes to education research projects, and mentors MS and PhD students for Discipline-Based Educational Research (DBER) in the College of Science;Coordinates with multiple committees and working groups within the College of Science, to include Curriculum Committee, Faculty Matters Committee, Emerging Pedagogies Committee, any others as needed;Creates regular reports for the College of Science leadership and faculty; andDevelops a vision to expand the Accelerator within the College of Science.
Required Qualifications:
Master’s degree in related field, or equivalent combination of education and experience;Experience in budget administration (generally 5+ years);Experience teaching in higher education (typically 5+ years);Track record of successful grant administration and management;Current knowledge of STEM education research;Superior writing and oral communication skills;Ability to communicate with and manage diverse groups and individuals; andDemonstrated commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Preferred Qualifications:Terminal degree in related field;Experience teaching in higher education (typically 10+ years); andExperience in full-time college-level administration (generally 5+ years).
Instructions to Applicants: For full consideration, applicants must apply for the Director of the STEM Accelerator at https://jobs.gmu.edu/. Complete and submit the online application to include three professional references with contact information, and provide a cover letter and resume for review.
Posting Open Date: November 19, 2025
For Full Consideration, Apply by: December 3, 2025
Open Until Filled: Yes
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