Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion/Assoc or Full Prof.

Job Title

Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion/Assoc or Full Prof.

Department

Social Welfare

Primary Campus

University of Kansas Lawrence Campus

Job Description

We welcome candidates who demonstrate a commitment to the School’s values—relationship building; diversity, equity, and inclusion; practice with integrity; multisystem competency; critical perspective; and empirically informed social work—and whose leadership, scholarship, teaching, and service would contribute to the School’s mission to promote social, economic, and environmental justice and transform lives and social contexts. The KU SSW is committed to fostering an inclusive and supportive educational environment for students, faculty, and staff. We seek an AD to assist us in continuing our mission to identify and challenge oppression within our own school, university, community, and profession. The successful candidates will have a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion in social work practice and research, centered in social work values and ethics, and contribute to the school in these areas.

The main campus of the KU School of Social Welfare is in Lawrence and offers BSW, MSW, and PhD degree programs. The KU Edwards Campus is in Overland Park, a suburb of Kansas City, and offers BSW and MSW courses. The MSW program is also offered at our partnership site, Pittsburg State University and starting in 2023, at Kansas State University - Salina. We will also be launching an online DSW Program and an online MSW Program in the 2023/2024 academic year. We encourage you to consider joining us in this growth and as we continually strive to reinvent, innovate, transform, and educate through quality education, research advancement, and community engagement.

Situated in the beautiful, historic, and culturally vibrant city of Lawrence, a thriving community 40 minutes from the Kansas City metropolitan area and home to Haskell Indian Nations University, the School of Social Welfare plays a central role in the life of the University of Kansas. Founded in 1865, The University of Kansas is a major comprehensive research and teaching university that serves as a center for learning, scholarship, and creative endeavor. The University of Kansas is the only state university in Kansas to hold membership in the prestigious Association of American Universities (AAU), a select group of 62 public and private research universities that represent excellence in graduate and professional education and the highest achievements in research internationally. The University enrolls more than 28,000 students, offers 5,000 courses, more than 400 degree and certificate programs and employs 2,800 faculty members, many of them at the top of their fields. In KU’s dynamic, cross-disciplinary research and learning environment, students exchange ideas, discover new ways of processing the world, and address society’s grand challenges.

In a continuing effort to enrich its academic environment and provide equal educational and employment opportunities, the university actively encourages applications from members of underrepresented groups in higher education. The successful candidates must be eligible to work in the U.S. prior to the start of the position.

Salary is commensurate with qualifications and experience.

50% Administrative (Associate Dean for DEI/Director of Toni Johnson Center for Racial & Social Justice)– Administration and management of DEI initiatives and programs within the School

20% Research – Continue a community-engaged research program focused on advancing racial, social, economic, and/or environmental justice; publish scholarly manuscripts; engage in scholarly and community-based publications and presentations; impact the local, national, and/or international community with their research.

20% Teaching – Teach two classes per year across the BSW, MSW, PhD, and DSW curricula.

10% Service – Participate in school, university, community, and professional service activities.

Req ID(Ex: 10567BR)

23809BR

Disclaimer

The University of Kansas prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, religion, sex, national origin, age, ancestry, disability status as a veteran, sexual orientation, marital status, parental status, gender identity, gender expression, and genetic information in the university's programs and activities. Retaliation is also prohibited by university policy. The following persons have been designated to handle inquiries regarding the nondiscrimination policies and are the Title IX coordinators for their respective campuses: Director of the Office of Civil Rights & Title IX, civilrights@ku.edu, Room 1082, Dole Human Development Center, 1000 Sunnyside Avenue, Lawrence, KS 66045, 785-864-6414, 711 TTY (for the Lawrence, Edwards, Parsons, Yoder, and Topeka campuses); Director, Equal Opportunity Office, Mail Stop 7004, 4330 Shawnee Mission Parkway, Fairway, KS 66205, 913-588-8011, 711 TTY (for the Wichita, Salina, and Kansas City, Kansas medical center campuses).

Conditions of Employment

Serve at the Pleasure

Contact Information to Applicants

Amy Mendenhall, PhD
Professor & Associate Dean of Research and Faculty Development
Director, Center for Community Engagement & Collaboration
amendenhall@ku.edu
785-864-4792

Position Number

TBD

Required Qualifications

Evaluation of the following requirements will be made through (1) descriptions of leadership, research, teaching, and service in the letter of application and statements, (2) record of accomplishments included in CV and (3) information from three professional references.

1. A PhD in social work or related fields.
2. Established research career focused on advancing social, racial, economic, and/or environmental justice as evidenced by scholarly outcomes (publications, presentations) and community-based outcomes (community partnerships, creative and innovative dissemination, etc.).
3. Teaching experience in social work.
4. Experience developing and leading equity and inclusion initiatives and efforts
5. Eligible to begin position as an associate or full professor based on KU tenure standards
6. Demonstrated commitment to social justice and anti-racist research, teaching, and service.
7. Demonstrated commitment to social work values and the School’s mission and values

Employee Class

F-Faculty

Advertised Salary Range

Current academic year salary, plus an administrative supplement and summer salary as determined by the Dean of Social Welfare

FTE

1.0

Position Overview

The University of Kansas School of Social Welfare (KU SSW) invites candidates for Associate Dean for diversity, equity, and inclusion (AD for DEI), an associate or full professor position that will also serve as the Director of the Toni Johnson Center for Racial & Social Justice. We seek a colleague who will continue and expand the work of our School through initiatives that promote racial and intersectional social justice and challenge oppression within our School, university, community, and profession.

The AD for DEI is a faculty position responsible for the administration and management of DEI initiatives and programs within the School. Candidates should meet qualifications for appointment at the level of associate or full professor. The appointment of academic rank and salary are dependent on evidence of research, teaching and scholarship achievements.

The AD serves as a member of the senior administrative leadership team and is appointed by and reports directly to the Dean. The AD for DEI serves as an equity advisor to the Dean in addition to overseeing efforts to expand the School’s portfolio of DEI related activities in response to evolving needs. Specifically, the AD for DEI is responsible for leading diversity-related recruitment/retention, programming, outreach, community engagement, initiative development, and evaluation efforts across the School for students, faculty, and staff. This role will collaborate with other DEI leaders at KU on campus-wide diversity initiatives and will represent the School in a variety of forums in local and national contexts. The administrative position is a 50% academic year and 4-week summer appointment.

The AD for DEI will serve as the Inaugural Director for the Toni Johnson Center for Racial and Social Justice. The mission of the Toni Johnson Center for Racial and Social Justice is to promote an educational environment engaged in racial and social justice in research, teaching, and service. The Center leads efforts to engage in research that promotes racial and intersectional social justice in our school and the larger community. Additionally, the Center aims to advance the well-being, success, and equity for students and faculty of color while attending to their intersectional identities and serves as a catalyst for critical dialogue on race and social justice within the School, the KU community; and the broader community, and profession. The Inaugural Director of the Center will serve as a visionary leader and work in collaboration with the School of Social Welfare DEI Council and others to refine the vision and purpose of the Center, set the agenda for the future in line with Dr. Johnson’s commitment to racial, social, and economic justice for youth and their families, and provide mentorship for faculty and student affiliates of the Center.

We seek candidates who will also contribute to the teaching and scholarship missions of the School, with a record reflecting the expectations of associate or full professor based on KU tenure standards. With newly innovated curricula and programs, we welcome candidates who are passionate about social work education and committed to inclusive teaching and mentoring across our BSW, MSW, PhD, and DSW curricula. As a School of Social Welfare within a comprehensive, premier research university, candidates should have an established research career that aligns with our School’s commitment to community-engaged scholarship and service that advances social, racial, economic, and environmental justice.

Reg/Temp

Regular

Application Review Begins

2023-02-28T00:00:00Z

Anticipated Start Date

2023-08-18T00:00:00Z

Additional Candidate Instruction

A complete application package will include:

• Online application
• Cover letter describing: interest in the position; alignment between candidate’s practice and experiences, social work values, and the School’s mission; candidate’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion; and candidate’s anticipated contributions to KU and the SSW.
• Curriculum vitae
• Scholarship and Service statement describing: candidate’s area of expertise/interest related to racial, social, economic, and/or environmental justice; community-engaged nature of the candidate’s work; plans for incorporating candidate’s research agenda at KU; description of the candidate’s past and/or anticipated service activities; and inclusion of DEI in research, scholarship, and service.
• Teaching, Mentoring, & Advising statement describing: teaching philosophy with attention to DEI; evidence of responding to student feedback and evaluations; courses taught; interests in teaching at KU.
• Leadership statement describing: leadership style and philosophy, examples of experience in developing and leading DEI initiatives and programming, and approach and thoughts on navigating the change process along the path to dismantling oppressive systems and creating a more inclusive environment.
• Scholarship examples (one or two), may include: evaluation reports, published articles, theoretical/conceptual papers, community dissemination products, grant proposals, policy briefs, creative/innovative dissemination products, etc.
• List of three professional references

Only complete application packages submitted online will be considered.

In addition to the materials above, learning about each applicant’s contribution and engagement in areas of diversity is an important part of KU’s mission. As a result, applicants will be presented the following question at the time of application:

• Describe your experiences working with people from diverse backgrounds and explain how those experiences reflect your commitments to diversity, equity and inclusion.

Applicants are also encouraged to include or expand upon how they have contributed to building a culture of belonging through DEI initiatives within the required application materials provided.

Review of applications has been extended to February 28th and will continue until a pool of qualified applicants is obtained. First round interviews are tentatively scheduled to occur in early February. Applications will be accepted and reviewed until the position is filled.