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Assistant Professor or Associate Professor, Interior Design Program

Employer
Virginia Tech
Location
Virginia, United States
Salary
Salary Not Specified
Date posted
Jan 15, 2021


Job Description

The Interior Design Program in the School of Architecture + Design, College of Architecture and
Urban Studies, at Virginia Tech is seeking a motivated and engaged colleague to join its faculty
as a tenure track Assistant Professor or Associate Professor with an anticipated start date of August 10, 2021 for the
Fall Semester of the 2021-20222 academic year.

Required Qualifications

Terminal degree in Interior Design required such as PhD in Interior Design or Environmental Design, MFA or Master’s Degree in Architecture or related field of study, by appointment start date.

Candidates should demonstrate an excellent body of work in design, as well as in teaching design studio and other courses across the Interior Design curriculum.

Successful candidates should demonstrate a teaching style that effectively integrates the learning experience of the design studio with the program’s initiatives in areas such as user-centered design, interdisciplinary/collaborative design projects, research/evidence-based design education, sustainability and wellness, or three-dimensional modeling/digital fabrication.

Candidate should have an established comfort with the tools and methods involved in developing design experiences spanning both physical and digital media (Revit, Grasshopper, Rhino, VR, etc.).

Preferred Qualifications

The NCIDQ credential is preferred.

The Position

We are looking for a creative and enthusiastic design practitioner who wants to explore the state of the art and design in Interiors and explore its boundaries as they transition to education and explore/direct the future of the interior design profession.

The primary responsibilities of this position will be to balance teaching a design studio with a lecture course in the accredited undergraduate Interior Design Program (BS.ID) each semester with the development of an externally recognized agenda of research, scholarship and/or creative activity. The ideal candidate will combine the development of a robust scholarship agenda with an unwavering passion for teaching students in a professional design curriculum.

Our Department is particularly interested in candidates with a professional background and a keen understanding of the elements of our discipline who understands its changing social, technological, and aesthetic dimensions. A person with a commitment to a global, multi-cultural, and sustainable future in which Interior Design’s role will evolve to meet that reality would be especially welcome here.

Appointment to the rank of tenure-track Assistant Professor or Associate Professor carries with it, professional responsibilities in teaching/learning, research/discovery, and outreach/engagement/service. Assistant and Associate Professors are expected to practice innovative modes of teaching in accordance with the School’s pedagogical traditions, integrating their teaching activities with School, College and University ongoing research initiatives, scholarship, and creative activities; and engage in outreach and/or service work, including community service-learning projects, service to the profession, service to students through advising work, or service to the School, College, or University through participation on various committees, etc.

We value cooperative engagement and have a community focus and collaborative approach to faculty, student and peer interactions within and beyond the School of Architecture + Design.

Application Process

All applicants must complete and submit the online faculty application at Virginia Tech Jobs . The search will remain open until the position is filled, but to be assured full consideration, complete applications should be submitted by February 15, 2021.

Candidates also must submit a cover letter, a resume/curriculum vitae, a statement of the candidate’s approach to teaching, and the
names and contact information for three current references as attachments to the online application.

In addition, candidates must provide supplemental materials within the application portal, including a portfolio with examples of professional and/or creative work and of the work of students taught, samples of research and scholarship, a diversity statement and/or other pertinent information supporting their application.

The Program

The interior design program is focused on designing spaces for people. We spend over 90% of our time indoors (this was pre-COVID). Interior design education includes an emphasis on health and wellness in interiors. Our students create interior experiences for working, living, and entertainment. To do this, our students must know how space impacts behavior. This means our students understand environmental psychology, materials (EPDs and LCAs), indoor air quality, acoustics, lighting, ergonomics, designing environments that support human activity and other aspects related to interiors.

The focus of the program at VT has been around sustainability and designing for all people. Our curriculum includes projects for varied socio-economic groups and cultures, Universal Design projects, and holistically integrated sustainable design. Students know about and use the Living Building Challenge WELL, and other guidelines for interiors such as LEED ID + C. Interiors change on average every 10 years (much more frequently than new buildings are built). Because of this our students must understand context and resource use and the responsibility of designers to know how to create safe, healthy, long lasting interiors. Beauty is an integral part of this—if it is not beautiful, it will not last.

Central to our approach is a belief that design can improve the way people live, work and play by providing atmospheres that promote these activities and support human beings.

We teach our students the value of research as a basis for interior design solutions. They learn to analyze case studies and precedents, but also how to conduct programmatic research including interviews, surveys, and behavioral mapping. Students also do demographic and cultural research to help them design solutions appropriate to the people and place where the project is located. The learn to use peer-reviewed research pertinent to the project type as opposed to a normative approach based on past projects that can compound mistakes. They learn how to evaluate decisions based on something besides their own opinion.

The Interior Design Program

The Interior Design program has consistently been ranked in the top ten by Design Intelligence since 2002. The Interior Design program is one of four programs housed in the School of Architecture + Design, which includes Architecture, Industrial Design and Landscape
Architecture, and is one of four Schools in the College of Architecture and Urban Studies. Students and faculty in the program have access to outstanding facilities and equipment, both digital and analog, and each of our approximately 160 students over our four-year curriculum has their own desk in our open-studio setting. Applicants are expected to work collaboratively and encouraged to work across disciplines. New faculty will be expected to work with the College and School in furthering key strategic initiatives in the realization of the University’s Beyond Boundaries Vision and the university-wide Destination Areas. Our graduates work in some of the best design firms in the country.

Visit our webpage for a partial listing of firms where our graduates have worked or are working now.

Interior Design at Virginia Tech

Appointment Type

Regular

Salary Information

Commensurate with experience

Review Date

February 15, 2021

Additional Information

The successful Candidate will be required to have a criminal conviction check.

The position requires occasional travel to attend conferences and meetings.

About Virginia Tech

Dedicated to its motto, Ut Prosim (That I May Serve), Virginia Tech pushes the boundaries of knowledge by taking a hands-on, transdisciplinary approach to preparing scholars to be leaders and problem-solvers. A comprehensive land-grant institution that enhances the quality of life in Virginia and throughout the world, Virginia Tech is an inclusive community dedicated to knowledge, discovery, and creativity. The university offers more than 280 majors to a diverse enrollment of more than 36,000 undergraduate, graduate, and professional students in eight undergraduate colleges , a school of medicine , a veterinary medicine college, Graduate School , and Honors College . The university has a significant presence across Virginia, including the Innovation Campus in Northern Virginia; the Health Sciences and Technology Campus in Roanoke; sites in Newport News and Richmond; and numerous Extension offices and research centers . A leading global research institution, Virginia Tech conducts more than $500 million in research annually.

Virginia Tech does not discriminate against employees, students, or applicants on the basis of age, color, disability, sex (including pregnancy), gender, gender identity, gender expression, genetic information, national origin, political affiliation, race, religion, sexual orientation, or veteran status, or otherwise discriminate against employees or applicants who inquire about, discuss, or disclose their compensation or the compensation of other employees or applicants, or on any other basis protected by law.

If you are an individual with a disability and desire an accommodation, please contact Roslyn Garrison at roslyng@vt.edu during regular business hours at least 10 business days prior to the event.

About Blacksburg

Blacksburg is home to 43,000 local residents. Because of the town’s award-winning services, reasonable cost of living, safety, moderate climate, and abundant leisure activities, Blacksburg is consistently ranked among the country’s best places to live and has earned a
reputation nationwide as a well-managed, stable, and forward-looking community. In 2016, 2012 and 2011, Bloomberg Businessweek named Blacksburg the best place in the United States to raise children. Blacksburg has been ranked among the nation’s best places to live by Blue Ridge Country Magazine, Men’s Journal, 50 Best Small Southern Towns, The Sporting News, and Retirement Places Rated. Outside Magazine ranked Blacksburg a top-10 “dream town” for outdoors enthusiasts with natural resources for hiking, biking, whitewater rafting, and climbing.

The broader area around Blacksburg is currently one of the fastest growing parts of the State and is connected to thriving artisanal, "farm to table" communities such as Floyd. Nearby Roanoke is a growing city with expanding urban amenities as well as upcoming Amtrak rail connection to Washington DC, New York and Boston. Considerable investments in the local economy continue to make the region increasingly popular for new businesses. Recently Roanoke was named a top 5 city for technology startups by Entrepreneur Magazine. Altogether, the region is also earning a reputation as a hub of work/ life balance.

Advertised: January 15, 2021
Applications close:

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