Biological Sciences Initiative

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Employment with the Science Squad

The BSI Science Squad is a team of scientists from the University of Colorado at Boulder who visit Denver area classrooms to lead hands-on science activities with K-12 students. Graduate students, post-doctoral research associates, and recent PhD and MS graduates from the CU-Boulder departments of MCD Biology, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Integrative Physiology, Chemistry and Biochemistry, Anthropology, Engineering, Geography, and Neuroscience (PSYCH) are encouraged to apply for these positions.

Like a teaching assistantship, these appointments are usually half-time (20 hrs/week per 16 week semester), although quarter-time appointments are possible. Unlike teaching a university course, however, you would be bringing hands-on activities related to your field of expertise to youth.

Recruitment for Science Squad for the following academic year begins in late January of each year. We will be holding an informational meeting on January 27, 2009 in MCDB A1B20 from 5-6 pm. If you would like more information or an application, come to the meeting or email us.

Time Commitment:
Your are the master of your own schedule. You will arrange program dates and times with teachers, who make online requests which are sent to you by email. You will be expected to work an average of 20 hours/week. Travel and preparation time are included in this 20 hours. A sample week's schedule might look like this:

two 5 hour days in the classroom = 10 hours
1.5 hours travel each day = 3 hours
5 hours prep time = 5 hours
2 hours arranging times with teachers = 2 hours
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total = 20 hours per week

You may be asked to teach a workshop for teachers and/or to assist with outreach programs on campus. You will be required to attend monthly meetings. All of these activities are included as part of your 20 hour/week time commitment. The Science Squad position is from September 1 to May 31, of each academic year.

Transportation:
You will need your own transportation (i.e. own personal vehicle). You will be reimbursed for travel expenses at the standard University rate per mile.

Presentations:
You will design your own presentations with feedback and support from the Biological Sciences Initiative staff. The Biological Sciences Initiative provides the equipment and supplies necessary for the implementation of your programs.

Salary and Benefits:
This position is equivalent to a teaching assistantship and pays the going rate for university TAs. During 2008-09, this was $2,100/month for half-time. If a quarter-time position were negotiated, your pay would be approximately half this amount. In addition, we offer full tuition for graduate students. A health insurance benefit is offered for all half time positions.

Personal and Professional Rewards:
With the pool of tenure-track faculty positions continuing to shrink, participating in the Science Squad will broaden your job experience beyond that afforded by a TA. You will benefit from increased responsibility for the content of the material you teach and the opportunity to work with a wider variety of audiences.

In addition, being a member of the Science Squad is a rare opportunity to share your knowledge and skills with young people throughout the community and to serve as a positive role model. Former Science Squad members have found this work to be very rewarding. Some of their comments include:

"This work has given me the opportunity to take my skills and experience and do something meaningful with them."

"I think my best contribution as a member of Science Squad was showing that a minority person could be a good scientist and a teacher. I feel that I provided a different perspective as to who is a scientist."

"I hope I was able to help educate students in some way that they will remember what I've taught them and use this information throughout their lives."

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