Teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in Buddhism and literary Tibetan. Chair of the Religious Studies Department for nine years (2002 to 2011).

Nitartha Institute is dedicated to teaching the Tibetan monastic college system (shedra) of the Kagyü and Nyingma lineages to modern lay students. The institute was founded by Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche in 1996, under the guidance of Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche and Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche. The institute offers a systematic curriculum taught by Tibetan and Western teachers that covers the traditional texts, including the foundational texts of Classifications of Mind (Lorik), Classifications of Reasons (Tarik), Collected Topics (Dudra), Grounds and Paths (Salam) and Philosophical Systems (Trubtha) for the Vaibhāṣika, Sautrāntika, Cittamātra, and Madhyamaka schools, as well as the advanced Indian texts (with Tibetan commentaries), such as Dharmakīrti's Pramāṇavārttika, Vasubandhu's Abhidharmakośa, Chandrakīrti's Madhyamakāvatāra, Mairteya's Uttaratantraśāstra and the Abhisamayālaṅkāra. The institute combines this study of key texts and commentaries with training in analytical meditation and training in the traditional method of formal Tibetan-style debate in the students' native language. Its courses are currently offered in English, Spanish, and Polish, with plans under development to teach in Chinese. The courses are taught in a month-long summer program, in regional programs, and online. (See http://nitarthainstitute.org/shedra-about.shtml.) The Institute upholds the importance of non-sectarianism and appreciation of the many forms of Buddhism, and thus students of any background are welcome and encouraged to attend. Dr. Stanley has been involved with Nitartha Institute since it was founded in 1996, serving as a teacher and contributor to its academic development. He was named Dean of Academic Affairs of the Institute in 2008. Naropa University uses Nitartha materials in its graduate degree program in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism and its graduate students can take the Nitarth Institute summer program for credit.

Dr. Stanley has served on the Executive Council of the International Association of Buddhist Universities (IABU) since 2007 and was appointed Vice Chair to the Executive Council in 2012. The IABU organizes periodic IABU academic conferences, and joint yearly conferences with the International Organizing Committee of the United Nations Day of Vesak (ICDV). The IABU also supports various academic projects, such as the Union Catalog of Buddhist Texts (see separately) which was proposed by Dr. Stanley and which he co-convenes. For the IABU, see http://www.iabu.org/Members/. For the ICDV, see http://www.undv2014vietnam.com/en/gioi-thieu/uy-ban-to-chuc-quoc-te-dai-le-vesak-lhq/.

This is a project to create an online catalog that links its international member websites for all the Buddhist canonical collections—Pali, Sanskrit, Chinese, Tibetan, Mongolian, etc.—into a single union catalog. Funded by the Royal Thai Government through Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University (MCU), and sponsored by the International Association of Buddhist Universities. Dr. Stanley is co-convener of this project with Dr. Ven. Khammai Dhammasami. Dr. Stanley has primary responsibility for the operational management of the project. The UCBT currently has five committees: the Technical Committee and four Language Working Groups for Pali, Sanskrit, Chinese, and Tibetan/ Mongolian, whose members consist of scholars and technical personnel from the major electronic projects for the canonical collections of these languages.

Dr. Stanley co-founded the Tibetan Buddhist Canonical Collections Cataloging Project with Dr. David Germano as part of the Tibetan and Himalayan Library at the University of Virginia. The catalog was initially based on a large FileMaker Pro database of multiple Tibetan canonical collections created by Dr. Stanley. The University of Virginia,and Naropa University received a National Endowment for the Humanities grant to developed this work into a new electronic catalog that includes a unparalleled level of metadata detail of the Dege edition, linked to scans of the original texts and searchable electronic texts. See http://www.thlib.org/encyclopedias/literary/canons/kt/ and http://www.thlib.org/encyclopedias/literary/canons/about/wiki/tibetan%20canons%20about%20us.html.