The United World College wilderness program is hiring instructors to co-lead students on a 14-day backpacking trip in the Southern San Juan National Forest. UWC-USA is a two-year international boarding school with students ages 16-19 from over 85 countries. The Leadership Expedition Backpacking trip is designed for our rising wilderness leaders. The curriculum focuses on developing backpacking skills, learning to teach these skills, and building leadership skills. The focus of this trip is to prepare wilderness leaders to lead their classmates on an Orientation backpacking trip later in August. The contract starts and ends at UWC-USA in Montezuma, NM.

Trip Dates:

July 27-29 Prep Days at UWC-USA (housing and meals provided)

Aug 30 - Aug 12 - Field Days

Aug 13th - De-issue

Qualifications:

All field instructors must have a current WFR certification (Wilderness First Responder) and CPR/AED certification.

In addition, field instructors should possess:

● Experience leading novices in the backcountry, including at elevations above 10,000 feet, and on trips of at least 5 days.

● Experience assessing and managing backcountry terrain and hazards; experience with backcountry risk-management, including lightning, rockfall, river crossings, and map & compass navigation on- and off-trail. Experience camping in bear habitat and using bear-hangs.

● Fluency with Leave No Trace principles and a strong wilderness preservation ethic.

● Experience working with diverse student populations; aware and sensitive to the multicultural nature of UWC student groups.

● Strong communication skills and group awareness; able to coach leadership, communication, and interpersonal skills with students.

Responsibilities:

On UWC wilderness trips, field instructors will:

● Work closely with students to provide instruction and to facilitate team interaction.

● Mentor student trip leaders in their development of leadership skills.

● Participate in team briefs and debriefs during each trip (while in the field).

● Coach students and intervene when necessary in matters of judgment, risk management, and safety.

● Closely read trip paperwork at the start of each trip, and fill out a written trip report at the end of each trip (on Leadership Expeditions, instructors will fill out a detailed evaluation of each of their student advisees).

● Serve as the responsible adult and the trip authority in matters of safety, minimum impact, and group dynamics.

● Field instructors may be asked to participate in gear issue and de-issue, and/or to drive a vehicle of students to and from the trip destination.

Compensation:

Field instructors will be paid $185 per day. This wage is for both the prep day and field days.

In addition, we are able to offer travel reimbursement to our instructors. This reimbursement is presently set at $0.56 per mile, with a cap of $250 for this trip. Successful candidates may also be offered further work with the program