West Chester University, a member of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, is a public, comprehensive institution committed to offering high-quality undergraduate education, selected post-baccalaureate and graduate programs, and a variety of educational and cultural resources for its students, alumni, and citizens of southeastern Pennsylvania. The University offers more than 100 graduate and undergraduate programs in the sciences and mathematics, business and public management, arts and humanities, health sciences, education and social work, music, and interdisciplinary studies. We are a community of educators dedicated to developing graduates who succeed personally and professionally and contribute to the common good. 

The Department of Biology has 20 full time tenured and tenure-track faculty, approximately 750 undergraduate majors in six different concentrations, and over 25 graduate students in the M.S. program.  Microscopy equipment in the Department includes epifluorescence microscopes, apparatus for video microscopy, scanning and transmission electron microscopes, a laser dissection microscope, cryostat, a micro techniques laboratory, and a spinning disk confocal microscope with TIRF capabilities. The Department of Biology has well-equipped teaching and research greenhouses, as well as growth chambers.  It also houses a vertebrate collection containing over 2500 specimens and the Darlington Herbarium, one of the most historically important herbaria in the eastern U.S. with more than 20,000 specimens.  The University is home to the 97-acre Gordon Natural Area, a protected area containing grassland, forest, riparian, and wetland habitats, available for teaching and faculty research.   

Responsibilities Include:  

• Teaching responsibilities will include developing courses in genomics/bioinformatics. In addition, candidates may teach courses and/or labs in the fields of cell biology or molecular biology as well as introductory level biology and graduate courses/labs.  The teaching load at WCU is 12 student contact hours per week per semester. 

• Advising biology majors regarding academic planning and course scheduling.  Faculty must schedule five hours of advising/consultation time each week for students. 

• Establishing an active, externally funded research program, involving undergraduate and/or graduate students. Candidates with a research interest in genomics/bioinformatics are preferred.  Faculty members are expected to present results at national meetings and publish in refereed journals. 

• Contributing to the university community and department by serving on committees, helping to recruit potential students, and performing other services as needed.