Position: Director, Centre for Teaching & Learning (CTL)

Classification: Director Level
Reports To: Vice President for Academic Affairs
About The American International University

American International University (AIU) is a private institution in Kuwait, founded in 2019, offering undergraduate programs in Engineering, Architecture and Design, Business Administration, Arts and Sciences, and Education, delivered in English on the American model of higher education. AIU serves a community of over 3,000 students and is executing the RISE Strategy 2026–2030 a five-year institutional transformation anchored in research development, WSCUC international accreditation, student success, and community engagement.

Teaching and learning excellence is one of the University's principal strategic foundations and an essential enabler of every pillar of the RISE Strategy. Without it, research does not flourish, accreditation evidence is weak, students do not succeed, and employability outcomes disappoint. The Director of the Centre for Teaching & Learning is the person who builds, sustains, and continuously improves that foundation making this one of the most consequential academic leadership appointments AIU will make.

For more information, visit: www.aiu.edu.kw

Department Profile

The Centre for Teaching & Learning (CTL) is AIU's institutional hub for teaching excellence, faculty development, and learning innovation. It operates under the Office of the VPAA and serves all five schools and the Foundation Programme working with over 120 full-time faculty and a growing adjunct complement. The CTL is newly established as one of AIU's strategic academic support centres under the Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs. The Director serves as its founding leader, responsible for building the Centre's programmes, culture, partnerships, and institutional reputation from the ground up.

The CTL carries three interconnected institutional mandates at AIU:

1. Faculty Excellence & Development: Building a culture of teaching excellence across AIU through structured professional development, peer observation, new faculty induction, individual coaching, and the scholarship of teaching and learning.
2. Learning Innovation & Digital Education: Advancing instructional design, educational technology integration, and evidence-based pedagogy ensuring that every AIU course, regardless of modality, reflects current best practice and produces documented student learning outcomes.
3. Assessment, Accreditation & Institutional  Evidence: Generating, curating, and maintaining the teaching and learning evidence that WSCUC accreditation requires the CTL Knowledge Repository, SLO assessment data, faculty development participation records, and the annual Teaching & Learning Impact Report.

Scope of Work

The Director of the Centre for Teaching & Learning provides strategic and operational leadership across five interconnected domains all of which must function simultaneously and reinforce each other. The Director is simultaneously a faculty developer, an instructional designer, an assessment specialist, a grant administrator, and an institutional evidence builder. The Director also serves as an institutional change leader, fostering a culture of continuous improvement, innovation, collaboration, and evidence-informed educational practice across all academic units. This is not a role for a specialist who does one of these well; it is a role for a leader who does all of them, and who can build a centre that extends their capacity through institutional culture and peer networks.

Key Responsibilities

1. Faculty Professional Development

• Design, deliver, and continuously evaluate a structured, evidence-based faculty development programme across AIU covering evidence-based pedagogy, inclusive teaching, active learning, hybrid and online instruction, AI in teaching, student assessment design, and academic writing for publication
• Lead the New Faculty Induction Programme each September a structured, multi-day orientation covering AIU's mission and RISE Strategy, the SLO assessment cycle, course file requirements, LMS and technology tools, academic freedom, shared governance, and the CTL's services
• Establish and facilitate Faculty Learning Communities peer groups organised around shared teaching interests, disciplinary challenges, or pedagogical themes as the primary vehicle for sustained, collegial professional development
• Coordinate and manage the peer observation of teaching cycle providing the framework, training observers, facilitating feedback conversations, and maintaining confidential records that support faculty development without functioning as a surveillance mechanism
• Provide individual faculty consultations on course design, assessment strategy, student engagement, and teaching effectiveness functioning as a trusted advisor, not an evaluator
• Develop and maintain the CTL professional development calendar, ensuring that sessions are scheduled at times accessible to all faculty including those with heavy teaching loads, offered in formats appropriate to different needs, and evaluated for effectiveness after each cycle
• Coordinate academic leadership development workshops for Programme Coordinators, Department Chairs, Associate Deans and Deans in collaboration with the Office of Faculty Affairs.
• Develop an institutional teaching certification pathway aligned with the UK Professional Standards Framework (Advance HE) or equivalent international framework.

 2. Instructional Design & Educational Technology

• Lead instructional design support for AIU's academic programmes assisting Deans, Department Chairs, and individual faculty in designing courses that align learning outcomes with instructional activities and assessment methods, regardless of delivery modality
• Advance AIU's capacity in online and hybrid course design building internal expertise, establishing course quality standards, and ensuring that digital learning experiences are as rigorous and engaging as in-person instruction
• Coordinate with the CTO and Digital Transformation Office on educational technology adoption evaluating new tools for pedagogical value, training faculty in their use, and ensuring that technology serves learning goals rather than displacing them
• Develop and maintain a practical institutional policy on the use of Generative AI in teaching and learning balancing innovation with academic integrity, and ensuring that faculty understand how to design assessments that remain valid in an AI-enabled environment
• Build and maintain the CTL Knowledge Repository a curated collection of teaching resources, case studies, grant outputs, peer observation frameworks, and WASC evidence artefacts available to all AIU faculty and retained as institutional evidence
• Work collaboratively with the Office of Graduate Studies in developing high-quality graduate teaching and supervision practices.
• Support the design of microcredentials, executive education and lifelong learning initiatives where appropriate.

3. Student Learning Outcomes Assessment Training

• Coordinate AIU's institutional SLO assessment Training, working with the Assessment Coordinator and VPAA to ensure that faculty collect, analyse, and document PLO achievement data each semester using consistent, valid assessment methods
• Train faculty in SLO/PLO design, assessment method selection, rubric development, and close-the-loop documentation transforming assessment from an administrative requirement into a genuine teaching improvement tool
• Support the Assessment Coordinator in producing the Annual Institutional Effectiveness Report's teaching and learning section the evidence document that WSCUC requires
• Maintain CTL records of faculty participation in assessment activities, professional development sessions, and peer observation
• Conduct an annual Teaching & Learning Impact Report, documenting CTL programme participation rates, faculty satisfaction with CTL services, changes in student learning outcomes attributable to CTL interventions, and grant and award outcomes presented to the VPAA and Faculty Council each May
• Coordinate workshops on authentic assessment in AI-enabled learning environments.
• Collaborate with Quality Assurance in analysing institutional trends relating to student achievement and learning outcomes.

4. RISE Teaching & Learning Grant Programme Administration

• Administer the AIU Teaching & Learning Grant Program including the Teaching Excellence & Innovation Grant, the Undergraduate Research Integration Grant, and the Annual Award for Innovation in Teaching, managing the annual call for applications, review committee formation, awardee notification, fund disbursement, and completion report collection
• Mentor the grant recipients through the implementation of their projects, providing consultations, connecting them with relevant expertise, and ensuring their work is disseminated to the broader faculty community
• Organise the annual CTL Teaching & Learning Forum, AIU's flagship event for sharing teaching innovation, recognising grant recipients and award winners, and building the faculty community around shared commitment to excellence
• Produce and maintain the CTL website and newsletter as a living resource for faculty, communicating available services, upcoming events, grant opportunities, and teaching resources in a format that invites engagement
• Identify and apply for external funding opportunities, from Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences (KFAS), regional higher education networks, and international foundations, to supplement the RISE grant budget and expand the CTL's programme capacity
• Promote interdisciplinary educational innovation projects involving multiple Schools.
• Publish annual summaries of funded projects highlighting institutional impact and transferable good practice.

5. Strategic Leadership & Institutional Partnership

• Serve as AIU's institutional voice on teaching and learning, advising the VPAA, Deans, and Faculty Council on evidence-based teaching standards, assessment practices, and faculty development priorities
• Build and maintain partnerships across AIU's institutional functions, with the ALO for accreditation evidence, with the Assessment Coordinator for SLO cycle management, with the CTO for educational technology, with the Registrar for course quality data, and with Student Affairs for student success initiatives
• Represent AIU in regional and international teaching and learning networks, including the POD Network, HERDSA, and GCC university teaching and learning forums, building relationships and bringing back best practice that benefits AIU faculty
• Where a joint academic appointment is agreed, teach one course per year in a relevant discipline or in the scholarship of teaching and learning, maintaining personal credibility as a practising educator and eligibility to participate in Faculty Council
• Contribute to AIU's WSCUC self-study, addressing faculty development, assessment, and teaching quality providing documented evidence of CTL activity and impact

Minimum Qualifications:

Education

Doctoral degree (PhD or EdD) in Education, Higher Education Pedagogy, Instructional Design, Curriculum and Instruction, Educational Technology, or a closely related discipline required for joint academic appointment eligibility; strongly preferred for the administrative role.

Experience

• Minimum seven (7) years of progressive experience in higher education, with at least three (3) years in a leadership role at a teaching and learning centre, faculty development office, or equivalent institutional function
• Demonstrated experience leading or managing a Centre for Teaching & Learning, or equivalent institutional function, in a GCC university context
• Documented experience designing and delivering faculty professional development programmes including workshops, learning communities, peer observation systems, and online development resources for diverse faculty audiences in a multicultural GCC environment
• Proven experience in instructional design across multiple delivery modalities face-to-face, hybrid, and online with working knowledge of Canvas or equivalent LMS
• Demonstrated experience with SLO/PLO assessment design, rubric development, and close-the-loop documentation in an accreditation context WASC, AACSB, or comparable quality framework experience is a significant advantage
• Experience administering faculty development grants or awards managing competitive application processes, review committees, fund disbursement, and outcome reporting
• Demonstrated experience supporting institutional strategic planning and organisational change within higher education.
• Experience collaborating with academic quality assurance, accreditation, and institutional effectiveness initiatives.

Technical and Pedagogical Knowledge

• Deep, current knowledge of evidence-based pedagogy active learning, inclusive teaching, culturally responsive instruction, universal design for learning, and the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL)
• Proficiency with Canvas (LMS) or equivalent platform both as a course designer and as a platform administrator supporting faculty adoption
• Working knowledge of educational technology tools relevant to GCC higher education including AI tools for teaching and learning, audience response systems, digital assessment platforms, and collaboration tools
• Knowledge of WSCUC accreditation standards particularly CFRs 2.3, 2.4, 2.5, 2.8, 2.9, and 3.3 and how CTL evidence maps to self-study requirements
• Familiarity with the Advance HE Professional Standards Framework (PSF) or equivalent teaching quality framework is an advantage particularly for designing a faculty teaching qualification pathway

Skills, Competencies and Personal Attributes

• The credibility to walk into a room of experienced faculty from diverse national and disciplinary backgrounds and be taken seriously not as a trainer, but as a peer colleague who happens to know more about pedagogy than most
• The cultural intelligence to build trust and engagement in a GCC university where teaching culture, professional norms, and attitudes toward feedback vary significantly
• Excellent English oral and written communication the ability to write clearly for different audiences, from a workshop handout to a WSCUC self-study section to a newsletter article that faculty actually read
• Arabic language proficiency is an advantage particularly for engagement with Arabic-speaking Kuwaiti faculty and with external stakeholders including PUC
• Strong programme management capability the ability to run multiple concurrent programmes (induction, grants, peer observation, forum, website, repository) without dropping any of them
• Genuine intellectual engagement with teaching the Director of a CTL must be the institution's most enthusiastic advocate for the idea that teaching can always be better, and that better teaching produces better outcomes for students
• Demonstrated ability to influence institutional culture without direct line authority.
• Ability to build consensus among academic leaders with differing priorities.

Preferred Qualifications

• Prior experience establishing or significantly expanding a CTL at a GCC university candidates who have built something from the ground up are particularly valuable given AIU's founding-director context
• Fellowship of Advance HE (FHEA) or Senior Fellowship (SFHEA) demonstrating internationally recognised teaching quality credentials that can anchor a faculty teaching qualification pathway at AIU
• Published research or professional thought leadership on teaching and learning in higher education particularly in GCC or Arab higher education contexts, or in the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL)
• Experience managing AI-related teaching and learning policy including responsible AI use frameworks, assessment design in an AI-enabled environment, and faculty training on generative AI tools
• Prior experience contributing to a WSCUC, QAA, AACSB, or comparable accreditation self-study in the teaching and learning or faculty development sections providing direct documentation skills that will accelerate AIU's WASC process
• Familiarity with Kuwait's higher education context PUC requirements, Kuwaiti student characteristics, Kuwait Vision 2035 workforce priorities enabling contextually grounded programme design from day one
• Experience in curriculum transformation.
• Experience leading digital transformation.
• Experience establishing institutional communities of practice.

How to Apply

Interested candidates should visit the Job Opportunities section on the AIU website and submit a complete application comprising:

• A current curriculum vitae
• A cover letter (maximum 3 pages) addressing three specific questions: (1) Describe a faculty development programme or centre initiative you personally designed and led in a GCC university, what was the starting state, what did you build, and how do you know it worked? (2) How do you build trust and engagement with faculty who are sceptical about CTL services, what is your strategy for turning opt-out faculty into advocates? (3) What is your vision for the AIU Centre for Teaching & Learning's role in the WASC accreditation process?
• A brief teaching philosophy statement (maximum one page) not abstract, but specific: what do you believe about how university faculty learn to teach better, and how does that belief shape what you would do at AIU?
• Contact details for three professional referees at least two of whom can speak to your centre leadership or faculty development work, and at least one of whom is a faculty member you have supported

Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis. The selection process includes a structured interview with the VPAA and a teaching and learning strategy presentation to a panel including the VPAA, two Deans, and a Faculty Council representative reflecting the shared governance principles that the CTL Dire