Job Description
The Department of Leadership in Education in the College of Education and Human Development (CEHD) at the University of Massachusetts Boston seeks applicants for a tenure-track assistant professor of higher education position, to begin September 1, 2024. Of particular interest are candidates with scholarly expertise in racial and gender equity in higher education using asset-based approaches and an established program of research within a qualitative, quantitative, or mixed methods tradition. Candidates’ research agendas should focus on one of the following three areas: 1) access and success of undergraduate students from minoritized populations, including students in associate’s, bachelor's, or early college programs, 2) community colleges, with a focus on policy/reform, leadership, and practitioner work, or 3) teaching and learning in higher education, with a focus on culturally sustaining and asset-based pedagogies.
Faculty are responsible for teaching, research, and service that enhance CEHD’s community-engaged mission. Responsibilities include: 1) teaching graduate courses in the Higher Education Program; 2) conducting research that is relevant to the field of higher education; 3) advising doctoral students and serving on dissertation committees; and 4) contributing service to university, college, departmental, and program committees, to professional associations, and to local, national, and/or international communities. The College recognizes that the scholarly work of faculty often includes the integration of teaching, research, and service.
Candidates must have an earned doctorate in higher education or a related field (awarded prior to 9/1/2024); an established publication record or indication of significant promise in the area of research; a demonstrated capacity for conducting research; the ability to attract external funding; and teaching experience or demonstrated potential to teach at the graduate level.
The department and CEHD are especially interested in candidates who 1) take a critically conscious, equity-minded, and asset-based approach to advancing equity and racial justice in higher education through their scholarship, teaching, and service and 2) are committed to strengthening the capacity of experienced higher education professionals to contribute to organizational change for equity and racial justice in higher education. Candidates who identify as African American/Black, Asian, Pacific Islander, Latinx, or Indigenous are strongly encouraged to apply. The position offers opportunities for collaboration with UMass Boston’s Collaborative of Asian American, Native American, Latino, and African American Institutes (CANALA - UMass Boston (umb.edu).
The Higher Education Doctoral Program provides a dynamic environment for faculty to conduct nationally recognized research, particularly in areas related to access, equity and justice, organizational change, international/comparative education, public policy, and community engagement. The program enrolls many full-time professionals with diverse backgrounds and work experiences. The curriculum focuses on preparing higher education leaders, researchers, and policy analysts who are committed to fostering and facilitating change in a social justice framework. For details, visit: https://www.umb.edu/academics/cehd/leadership/grad/higher_education_program
Application instructions:
Submit the following materials online:
- A letter of interest that: 1) describes the applicant’s research agenda; 2) explains how the applicant's research and scholarship contribute to policy, theory, and practice in the field of higher education, especially as related to equity and racial justice; and 3) indicates how the applicant’s teaching and advising philosophy fits with a practitioner-focused doctoral program and the mission of the Higher Education Program.
- A current curriculum vitae.
- Three samples of scholarship published in academic venues such as peer-reviewed journals, academic books, and conference proceedings, or scholarly artifacts in the form of reports, digital publications, blog posts, policy briefs, among other products.
- Names and contact information for three academic references.
Inquiries about the position can be directed to Dr. Jay Dee, Search Committee Chair. Application review will begin on October 15, 2023 and continue until the position is filled.
UMass Boston is an urban public research university with a teaching soul, whose impact is both local and global. We are the third most diverse university in the country - more than 60% of our undergraduate students come from minoritized communities and groups and more than half of our students are the first in their families to attend a college or university. Thus, our students come to us from richly diverse life experiences and backgrounds; they bring to our classrooms and research settings the robust range of perspectives growing out of the socio-cultural, economic, and historical contexts in which they have lived, along with the challenges they encounter, engage, and strive to overcome. We invite applications from candidates who engage the diverse life experiences of our student body, who appreciate that students bring their holistic selves into the academic setting, and who recognize and articulate how their own life experiences and backgrounds have shaped their journeys, practices, and commitments as researchers, scholars, and educators.
UMass Boston is committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals. As part of this commitment, we will ensure that persons with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations for the hiring process. If reasonable accommodation is needed, please contact HRDirect@umb.edu or 617-287-5150.
