employment / teaching at ds / living at ds / faculty positions / writer in residence

All teaching appointments include free room and board for professors and their families, some moving expenses, and library book-purchase funds. Long-term professors also receive retirement benefits, medical insurance, financial support for professional development, sabbatical leaves, and a personal book allowance.

There are faculty houses and apartments around the main circle of the upper ranch, where the library, classrooms, and boardinghouse are located. Faculty members are welcome to eat at the boardinghouse, which offers three meals per weekday and two each on Sunday and Saturday; they also have the option to eat at their homes, all of which have kitchens. Special dietary needs can be accommodated. The college produces nearly all of its own beef and dairy, as well as some chicken and pork. The garden turns out a cornucopia of delicious vegetables. Meals are lively social occasions, full of laughter and conversation. Occasionally, community members will conspire to cook a feast of their own.

There are, of course, no restrictions on faculty movements. But all community members share the benefits of the campus’s isolated location. Bishop, CA, is the nearest town with a selection of stores and restaurants; it is forty miles away, over a mountain pass. Las Vegas and Reno airports are four and five hours distant, respectively. Los Angeles and San Francisco are about six and eight. This isolation emphasizes the stark, tranquil beauty of the landscape. Deep Springs Valley is rimmed by the Inyo-Whites and in view of the Sierra Nevadas, two of our country’s most gorgeous mountain ranges. There are wonderful opportunities to run, hike, and bike about the campus. And for the times when faculty or staff simply need to get away, there are plenty of attractions nearby: Palisade Glacier, Death Valley National Monument, Yosemite National Park, Devil’s Postpile National Monument, and the Mammoth Mountain Ski Resort, all within easy reach.

Professors often bring their children with them. Pediatricians, hospitals, childcare, schools, groceries, and department stores are all located in Bishop. The wide-open spaces, friendly community, and the absence of traffic create an environment in which children thrive. The friends and relatives of community members are welcome to visit, and the college maintains several guest cottages for short-term visitor.

Bishop, California
Located on Highway 395 in the Owens Valley, Bishop, California is forty-one miles from Deep Springs (about one hour's drive over Westgard Pass). Though both Dyer, Nevada (the college's postal address), and Big Pine, California are closer to Deep Springs, Bishop is the nearest town with a good selection of stores and restaurants. Centrally located for LA residents travelling to Mammoth Mountain Ski Resort and other destinations in the Sierra Nevadas, Bishop has long been a favorite stopping place for residents of Southern California. Bishop is one of the largest towns in the Eastern Sierra region of California, and is centrally located for all manner of Sierra Nevada excursions. The town boasts a wide selection of restaurants and fast food establishments, a movie theatre, bowling alley, skateboard park, numerous BMX tracks, an annual Tri-County Fair, and the world famous annual event, Mule Days. Most of the college's weekly supplies come from Bishop, and the majority of the contractors whom the college occasionaly employs come from Bishop. Deep Springs has many ties with Bishop, and faculty and staff make frequent trips into town, whether to eat out, catch a movie, or go for a swim at the Hot Springs. Though it does not have everything that a big city can offer, Bishop has all the best qualities of a small, friendly, American town.