Auer served as the dean of faculty and vice president for academic affairs at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine before being appointed the current Dean of the University of Georgia School of Public and International Affairs in Athens, Georgia; he assumed office on July 1, 2017.
For the United States Agency for International Development and other bilateral aid agencies, he has developed, implemented, and evaluated energy and environmental programs in, among other countries, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Ecuador, Bolivia, Chile, Estonia, Poland, Azerbaijan, Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam.
[5] On February 1, 2017, it was announced that Auer was appointed to a senior level position within the University of Georgia by the college's president, Clayton Spencer.
[6] Auer focused on recruiting faculty from diverse and underrepresented groups and strengthening computational sciences curricula at the college.
[8] Priorities during Auer’s term have included increasing the size of the faculty, new curricula, and theory-to-practice research impact.