School of Art: Assistant Professor in Photography 2 Positions

School of Art: Assistant Professor in Photography - 2 Positions

Job Class Code: 10031
FLSA: Exempt
Posting Number: FRGV1102
Location: Rio Grande Valley
Division/Organization: Provost - Academic Affairs
Appointment Period for Non-Tenure Position:
Tenure Status: Tenure Track
FTE: 1.0

Scope of Job:
We seek applicants who are dedicated to serving The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley's diverse student body as an Assistant Professor of Photography and digital imaging for the School of Art beginning in Fall 2021. The successful candidate must be able to teach all levels of photography courses including undergraduate and graduate courses, surveys on analog, digital photography, and the history of the medium. Duties include developing adaptive curriculum and contributing to directing, organizing and supervising the photography program. Candidates will be expected to maintain a productive research activity, contributing to the interdisciplinary BFA and MFA programs, and teaching in the Edinburg and Brownsville campus.

About UTRGV:
It is UTRGV's Vision “To be one of the nation's leaders in higher education, its premier Hispanic-serving institution, and a highly engaged bilingual university, with exceptional educational, research, and creative opportunities that serve as catalysts for transformation in the Rio Grande Valley and beyond.” As such, UTRGV is committed to building a diverse faculty and staff that can contribute to an enriching learning environment that strives for more equitable outcomes for student success.

UTRGV is a distributed campus, one university spanning four counties and multiple locations. Our purpose is to be a university for the entire Rio Grande Valley and beyond. Over 91% of the students enrolled at UTRGV identify as Hispanic, making UTRGV one of the top 3 universities with the highest percentage of Hispanic students.

Thanks to a steadfast commitment to safety and success, UTRGV yielded record-breaking outcomes in enrollment and student success in the fall 2020 semester. For additional information, please visit our website.

College & School Background
In the College of Fine Arts students pursue their passion. Students participate in seminars, special projects, exhibits, workshops, internships, various performances, and interdisciplinary arts to hone their creative and technical skills. The arts run the gamut of all creativity from the scientific precision of Leonardo Da Vinci and Johann Sebastian Bach to the wild imaginings of Julio Cortazar and Tom Stoppard to the telling of American stories in the dances of Agnes de Mille. Students' dreams are realized and transformed into Art. At the College of Fine Arts students learn and develop their craft. Faculty members' work side by side with students to model, nurture, develop discipline, reveal and explore technique, and share their knowledge of what it takes to become a master of one's Art. The hours of practice and hard work in each of the College's disciplines and the formation of a professional persona are modeled by our faculty who model the same dedication and commitment that they are trained to cultivate in our students.
The School of Art Faculty welcomes student exploration of a wide range of media and scholarship. Through the conceptual and analytical comprehension of images, students are able to develop effective communication skills. This creative endeavor promotes the development of critical observation and encourages the investigation of the natural world as well as the multicultural, social and political elements of a global society. It is our belief that the visual arts serve humanity. Through their investigations, our students are encouraged to explore both traditional and contemporary fields in order to successfully situate themselves within the world in which we live and to impact that world in positive ways.


Minimum Qualifications:
Applicants to this rank must have MFA, MS or equivalent with a concentration in Photography and a minimum of 18 graduate credit-hours in disciplines that include word “Photography” in their title. This should be demonstrated in the transcript but if needed candidates can justified consideration for courses that do not meet this criterion in their letter of interest. Special consideration will be given to candidates with degrees above masters.


Discipline Specific Required Qualifications:
Demonstrated proficiency in Adobe Photoshop CC, Adobe Lightroom CC and Adobe Camera Raw CC. Excellence in teaching at the graduate and undergraduate levels traditional, digital and the history of photography. Demonstrable experience or potential to develop and enhance visual studies in photography and digital image with an emphasis on fundamental skills, collaboration and multi-disciplinary approaches.
The successful candidates will coordinate and enhance the photography program in four main areas: Manage and improve the digital photography part of program for undergraduate and graduate students, oversee traditional wet processes and darkroom lab, develop a video/film production component, and design and supervise the creation of a professional studio. They must possess extensive knowledge and experience with current digital media production technologies, a willingness and aptitude to learn, and utilize, technologies, currently in development and/or on the horizon, and the ability to teach the fundamentals and advance use of traditional, historical, and hybrid practices, combining analog and digital photographic media.
Candidates’ activities will include teaching photography and other art courses, motivating students to create conceptually exceptional work based upon research, and to maintain a vibrant art practice with a high level of professional activity. They must possess a strong desire to see their work, and the work of their students, enters the contemporary dialogue on visual art, photography, and film, and be practically and theoretically current and engaged with the contemporary discourse affecting art practice.
All full-time ranked faculty are expected to contribute in the departmental, school and university wide self-governance. Therefore, they are expected to serve in committees at these three levels, contribute to the discussion and execution of plans for growth, such as and developing new courses and programs, introducing, expanding and updating facilities and equipment, and assessing the current state and future of courses and programs.
Part of the teaching responsibilities include reviewing and adopting textbooks, ordering and managing supplies equipment for the labs and workshops and supervising the facilities. Candidates will be offered the opportunity of designing new courses, redesigning old ones, invited artist for talks. lectures and workshops and participate in selection of candidates for residencies, exhibits and awards. In addition, the photography professor is responsible for writing clear core objectives and student learning outcomes, mentoring and guiding students in the conceptualization and conduction of research-based projects aimed at graduation, participation in academic and artistic venues, securing internships and funding, and promoting community engagement.
Candidates selected for remote or inhouse interviews will received a certificate attesting deliver of a lecture at the UTRGV’s Scholl of Art.


Preferred Qualification:
o Significant professional activity, including solo and group exhibitions, performances, screenings, press, published writings,
o Experience working with and teaching digital, analog and hybrid forms of photographic including digital media, video production/editing, and large format cameras and printing.
o Significant university-level teaching experience; and preferred professional experience as photographer as well.
o Strong communication and leadership skills, expressed by demonstrable experience, and a clear and comprehensive teaching philosophy.
o Demonstrable familiarity and engagement with the state of the theorical and technical debates within the discipline.
o A coherent and precisely defined vision for the future of the photography program including plans for improvement and upgrading of facilities, and indication of as pedagogic and didactic innovation and flexibility, considering the special nature of our student population.
o Demonstrable ability, experience and interest in interdisciplinary collaborative work.
o Demonstrated agenda of sensitivity to social justice, awareness of the socio/cultural specificities of the Rio Grande Valley and of the UTRGV student population
o Commitment to teaching with evidence of positive evaluations from students, peers and supervisors, and portfolio of student’s work produced under the candidate supervision are required.
o Willingness to teach in both the Brownsville & Edinburg campus and experience or interest in developing online courses.


Salary: Commensurate with Qualifications and Experienc
License or Certification Required?: No
Number of Vacancies: 2
Desired Start Date: 09/01/2021

EEO Statement:
EEO Statement
UTRGV is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer that strives to hire without regard to race, color, national origin, sex, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, genetic information or veteran status. UTRGV takes affirmative action to hire and advance women, minorities, protected veterans and individuals with disabilities.

Diversity Statement
UTRGV is a Hispanic-serving Institution dedicated to student success and building a diverse faculty committed to working in a multicultural environment. UTRGV has an NSF ADVANCE grant to increase the representation of women in STEM fields and to promote a positive, family friendly workplace for all faculty. We strongly encourage applications from women and minorities.


Open Date: 11/09/2020

Special Instructions to Applicants:
Dear Applicant,

Human Resources will not be held responsible for redacting any confidential information from the documents you attach with your application. The confidential information includes the following:

*Date of Birth
*Social Security Number
*Gender
*Ethnicity/Race

Please make sure that you omit this information prior to submission. We are advising that Human Resources will be forwarding your application to the department as per your submission.

Complete all sections on the application. If you are applying for the first time please complete all biographical information including address, email and phone. You may update this at any time by selecting to edit your profile in the application. Security sensitive; All UTRGV employees are required to have a criminal background check (CBC). CBCs will be conducted for all candidates invited for an on-campus interview.

To apply visit careers.utrgv.edu

Complete the application online:
1. Curriculum Vitae
2. List of 3 References
3. Letter of Interest: addressing your ability to meet the above responsibilities and requirements and if need clarification on the documentation
4. Statement O Teaching Philosophy
5. Unofficial Transcripts: graduate and undergraduate - Once hired, official transcript are required)
6. Other Documents: Portfolio with 20 images of personal work with necessary captions (title, dates, medium, etc.). The images should be on 72dpi, jpgs, 1000 px tall/wide)
7. Another document: Portfolio with 20 images of student’s work with the same specifications described above
8. Multi Media: May include applicant’s artist website address and other examples of artistic online presence, for example URLS of online video files, professional groups, community and teaching initiatives and forums.


Additional Information:
UTRGV is a distributed institution. As such and as assigned, the position may
require presence at multiple locations throughout the Rio Grande Valley. Work is
performed primarily in a general office environment. This position is security sensitive and thereby subject to the provisions of the Texas Education Code
§51.215. The retirement plan for this position is Teacher Retirement System of
Texas (TRS), subject to the position being at least 20 hours per week and at least
135 days in length. This position has the option to elect the Optional Retirement
Program (ORP) instead of TRS, subject to the position being 40 hours per week
and at least 135 days in length.


Please Note:
Texas law requires faculty members whose primary language is not English to
demonstrate proficiency in English as determined by a satisfactory paper-based
test score of 500 (computer-based of 173 or internet-based of 61) on the Test of
English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or a satisfactory test score of 6.0 on the
International English Language Testing System (IELTS). Incomplete applications
will not be considered. All positions are subject to budget approval.


To apply, visit https://careers.utrgv.edu/postings/26356

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