Director of Design-Build Program; Lecturer Calendar

About UMass Amherst

The flagship of the Commonwealth, the University of Massachusetts Amherst is a nationally ranked public land-grant research university that seeks to expand educational access, fuel innovation and creativity, and share and use its knowledge for the common good. Founded in 1863, UMass Amherst sits on nearly 1,450 acres in western Massachusetts and offers a full range of undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees across 10 schools and colleges, and 100 undergraduate majors.

The institution advances a diverse, equitable, and inclusive community where everyone feels connected and valued—and thrives.

About the Departments at UMass Amherst

Building and Construction Technology (BCT) is one of the programs in the Department of Environmental Conservation (ECo) within the College of Natural Sciences and the School of Earth and Sustainability at UMass Amherst. BCT is co-located in Amherst with the Departments of Architecture and Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning in the UMass John W. Olver Design Building, a nationally acclaimed sustainable building on the Amherst campus.

The ECo department hosts a multi-disciplinary group of faculty with programs in Building and Construction Technology, Natural Resources Conservation, Environmental Science, and Sustainability Science. Unifying themes across these programs include conservation of natural resources, sustainable development, and reconciliation of humans with the natural environment. Special emphasis is placed on faculty-student interaction, interdisciplinary activities, and cooperation among faculty. We commonly teach interdisciplinary classes and share a fundamental commitment to serving a diverse student body and the broader public, and we are committed to recruiting, supporting, and retaining a diverse faculty.

Department of Architecture is part of the College of Humanities and Fine Arts. The Department supports an undergraduate degree (BS-Architecture), a graduate professional degree (Master of Architecture), and a graduate post-professional degree (Master of Design). The Department provides an accessible, intellectually rigorous design education that grounds students in the art and science of the built environment. The interdisciplinary, collaborative program embraces spirited, socially progressive, and environmentally responsive design.

As New England’s first public architecture program, UMass Amherst Architecture seeks to broaden interest in and access to professional training in architecture throughout the North Atlantic region. The Master of Architecture program is accredited by NAAB and provides the path to licensure.

The Department teaches a creative process that enables students to tackle complex interdisciplinary problems of varying scales. Students learn to create a wide range of interventions informed by human and environmental systems, and to conduct research and enlist appropriate stakeholders.

Job Description

The Building and Construction Technology Program (in the Department of Environmental Conservation) and the Department of Architecture at UMass Amherst invite applications for a full-time lecturer position to be the director and primary instructor for the UMass Design Build program. The successful candidate will provide the core organizational, administrative, and instructional role in the UMass Design Build program, a service-learning effort that allows students from multiple disciplines to construct a small house or other project each year as an academic exercise and then provide that structure to a local community partner and/or the University for their affordable housing efforts.

It is a cooperative effort by the Building and Construction Technology program in the Department of Environmental Conservation, the Department of Architecture, and the Five Colleges Architectural Studies program.

Successful candidates will have a strong interest in design-build pedagogy and experience in both architectural design and full-scale construction.

This position is a calendar year Lecturer (100% appointment, 12 months), joint hire between the Department of Environmental Conservation (ECO) as primary department and the…