Continuing Education Instructors for Adult Extension Programs

Mission

At Rhode Island School of Design Continuing Education we are committed to providing an immersive and innovative art and design education for everyone, at all stages of life and all levels of experience.

Art and Design for Everyone

RISD Continuing Education offers hundreds of non-credit courses, workshops and lectures in all aspects of art and design for adults, teens and kids. We offer online, in-person and hybrid courses year-round, and we are open admission—we welcome everyone!

Most of our courses take place on the RISD Campus in Providence, with select courses and workshops held at Tillinghast Place in Barrington, as well as the Westerly Education Center.

Department Overview

RISD Continuing Education functions within the larger context of RISD, an institution with an unparalleled reputation for producing highly skilled, successful and internationally renowned creative practitioners. A wide variety of creative experiences await adult students at RISD Continuing Education. We offer courses and certificate programs in a broad range of visual arts and design disciplines, as well as in topics related to art and design as integral parts of our lives and culture. We schedule these courses year-round, during the Fall, Winter, Spring, and Summer terms. Courses are of variable length, but most of our current courses are online and six-weeks long.

With more than 100 years of expertise nurturing ‘critical making, thinking and innovation’ and ‘applying the principles of art and design to the requirements of trade and manufacturing’, RISD Continuing Education Certificate Programs are designed to facilitate personal and professional development by engaging students in sustained exploration and learning in specific creative disciplines. These non-credit certificates are flexible, designed to accommodate both students’ learning interests and schedules, and provide robust, studio-based learning that is current, relevant, and integrally connected to the creative economy. These programs equip students with the skills, confidence, proficiency, and real-world experience to accelerate their creative lives and work.

Job Description

RISD Continuing Education instructors plan, organize, teach, and provide feedback to promote and direct student learning in keeping with the institutional learning-centered values and in a manner that meets essential competencies of artists and designers. Our instructors respond to students with respect and in support of their development. Communication with students and with the division must be timely and with attention to college-provided tools, platforms and resources. The successful candidate should be prepared to teach asynchronous online courses to a diverse group of students from a range of disciplines. Interpersonal and leadership skills, clarity, generosity, and creativity in both personal work and teaching are essential. Which would entail producing and posting course content for online learning experiences. We welcome candidates whose teaching experience addresses historically underrepresented communities. Our instructors develop culturally diverse syllabi for studio and seminar courses and lead classes and critiques that model constructive, inclusive discussions that encourage students to grow creatively and intellectually.

We are looking for instructors whose specialty is in one or more of the fields listed below. Please indicate which applies to you in your application.

High Interest In:

Beginner level digital media

Natural Science Illustration

Drawing

Digital Media - Introductory to Advanced level courses, particularly Illustrator, InDesign, AfterEffects

Product Design - Introductory to Advanced level courses, particularly Drawing & Rendering, Materials & Manufacturing related courses

Photography - Introductory to Advanced level courses, particularly Photoshop & Digital Photography

Rolling Interest In:

Painting, particularly gouache or watercolor

Textiles/fiber arts

Animation - Introductory to Advanced level courses, particularly 2D&Digital Animation & AfterEffects exp.

Graphic Design - Introductory to Advanced level courses, Print & Production related courses

Interior Design - Introductory to Advanced level courses, particularly Drafting & Rendering, Lighting AutoCAD, Revit, Materials & Manufacturing related courses

4D / Video - Digital Techniques & Effects

2D Design

Required Knowledge/Skills/Experience

- MFA, BFA or Art/Design Major required.

- A track record of paid professional experience at companies successfully doing related work, and/or a robust, creative, intellectually and critically engaged design or studio practice, as evidenced by recognition in publications, commissions, exhibitions, awards and/or collaborative projects.

- Interest in teaching online, asynchronous ( not live or via Zoom) courses; including recording video tutorials, course content, assignments and giving feedback through a LMS (Learning Management System).

- Ability to develop and implement diverse teaching and learning for different learning styles and to respond to the needs of learners from a variety of educational backgrounds in a multicultural environment.

- Analytical, evaluative, and critical thinking skills

- Accept and act upon constructive feedback from course and classroom evaluations by students and staff.

- Strong interpersonal, communication and organizational skills.

Preferred Knowledge/Skills/Experience

- Teaching experience in a collegiate or adult education setting that addresses underrepresented communities

-Ability to convey complex art engagement ideas in a clear and articulate manner for an art and design program and design concepts that serves adult students with varied skills (novice to advanced) in a condensed time frame.

- Familiarity with Canvas or similar LMS and online teaching experience, including the ability to create syllabi and lesson plans, and how to tie those to learning outcomes. Online course content; syllabus, learning outcomes, tutorials, assignments and other components such as intuitive navigation, lively discussions, and meaningful feedback as part of a successful online class.

- Commitment to excellence in teaching and mentoring students.

- Lifelong learning orientation with demonstrated interest in learning about new developments in their area of study.

- Ability to empathically relate to a wide range of student perspectives and maturely handle interpersonal issues that may arise.

- Should be prepared to develop syllabi and lead classes and critiques that model constructive, inclusive discussions, and that encourage students to grow creatively and intellectually.

Union:

No



Work Schedule:

Flexible availability based on regular reliable online contact with students



Documents Needed to Apply:

Resume, including a URL link for your professional portfolio if applicable

Cover Letter

Incomplete applications will not be considered. Please upload all required documents.

The successful candidate will be required to meet our pre-employment background screening requirements.

For certain positions, RISD is currently supporting remote work arrangements due to the pandemic. When work resumes in person, employees are expected to perform work on campus.

RISD recognizes diversity and inclusivity as fundamental to its learning community and integral to an art and design education. We welcome candidates whose experience has prepared them to contribute to our commitment to diversity and excellence. RISD is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, genetics, or any other protected characteristic as established by law.

For internal use only - Job Family:

CE Instructor