Welcome to the Teaching Faculty application process!
We’re excited you’re interested in applying to be JIRP Teaching Faculty. Similar to many research universities, we use the broad title “faculty” to describe anyone who is an expert in their field. This includes advanced PhD students, postdocs, and faculty, professionals with 3+ years of experience, artists, policymakers, and anyone else who has something to teach. Below, you will find information about Application Timelines, Criteria & Evaluation, & links to the Teaching Faculty Application. If you have any questions or concerns, contact our staff (office@juneauicefield.org).
We currently do not have a Research Faculty application. If you are interested in coming up to the Icefield as Research Faculty, please review the Introductory Information page for information on how to start the research planning process with JIRP.
Application Timeline - All Faculty (2025 Season)
December 5: Applications open.
January 12: Teaching Faculty application materials be due for priority consideration. This includes recommendations, so please submit contact information for your recommenders early to give them time to complete the recommendation survey.
Early February: First round of application decisions.
Applications for both teaching and research faculty will be accepted on a rolling basis after the priority deadline for any open positions.
The Block Schedule
The JIRP expedition is split across four blocks:
Orientation & Block 1 are primarily safety training and academic basics; there is relatively less time for scientific content to be delivered to students, but some important lectures/workshops/fieldwork do happen.
Block 2 is when students begin to engage with more advanced topics and also access the heart of the Icefield. Academic topics and research opportunities take center stage during Block 2, with opportunities in camp, day trips, and some overnights.
Block 3 is when student projects happen: faculty participating in Block 3 are expected to come to the Icefield with a student research project designed that enables students to collect data, process that data, and interpret it within a ~9 day span while on the icefield. If you are applying for Block 3, make sure to detail your idea for a student research project within the faculty application. For the most part, faculty bring their own field instrumentation to support the student projects they lead.
Block 4 is when students are traversing off the icefield and preparing final presentation of their projects. There is limited space for fieldwork and small research projects to happen, so this is less of the focus during Block 4.
Generally speaking, new-to-JIRP faculty should consider applying to Blocks 1 or 2. In 2024, we expect to primarily have returning faculty for Blocks 3 and 4 (though some exceptions to this are possible for the right project/person).
Application Components
Teaching Faculty Application
Submitted through our secure application portal. The application will NOT save your progress, so we recommend completing your application in a separate document before copying-and-pasting your answers into the application before you submit. Long-answer questions are limited to 250 words.
*If submitting an application online is prohibitive, please contact our staff (office@juneauicefield.org, (907) 500-8913)) to apply by mail.
Contact Information for Recommenders
For applicants who have not attended JIRP as faculty within the past ten years: Provide the names and contact information for two recommenders through the Teaching Faculty Recommenders Form. You must fill out the form twice, one time for each recommender. Our system will send a recommendation survey to your recommenders in lieu of a formal letter.
Contact Information for Recommenders is due January 12. The recommendations themselves are also due January 12. For this reason, we recommend submitting contact information early to give your recommenders plenty of time to complete their part of your application.