Assistant Professor of Social Services Mental Health (SSMH Chair)

PRIORITY CONSIDERATION GIVEN TO APPLICATIONS RECEIVED BY JUNE 1, 2022

Join our Racial Equity-Centered College!

Pierce College District is student-centered and mission-driven to ensure that all our students thrive and reach their fullest potential. As an institution committed to antiracism, we are action-oriented and intentional in dismantling every systemic barrier that prevents Black and Brown student excellence and liberation.  

As Pierce College deepens its commitment to racial equity, it is of the highest priority that we focus our tenure-track faculty hiring process to seek faculty with the expertise to lead our institution in serving Black and Brown students. This cluster hire is an opportunity for the college community to continue to act upon our values but more importantly for the empowering of our student’s self-efficacy, for cultivating sense of belonging, and for the diversity of our entire student body, especially Black and Brown students, being reflected in a position of power in the classroom. We are fortunate that the Washington state legislature recognizes this through SB 5194 in its efforts to address student areas of inequities with the funding of additional faculty positions.

We are excited to invite you to bring your lived experiences and authentic selves to contribute to discourse and action in supporting Black and Brown students.

About the Program:

Pierce College’s Social Services Mental Health program prepares graduates for careers in the helping field.  Certificate and degree options in social services mental health programming prepare graduates in the use of anti-oppressive practices for client interviewing, counseling and crisis intervention, assessments, and treatment program coordination. This position includes one-third release time for chair responsibilities of the department including advising, scheduling, staffing, outreach, and maintaining program currency. The successful candidate for this position is a self-starter that seeks opportunities to improve and strategically expand employment opportunities for SSMH graduates. Future directions of the SSMH department is to expand programming to include Substance Use Disorder education into current SSMH programming that satisfies RCW 18.205 and WAC 246-811 credentialing requirements.  

About Pierce College:

Pierce College is an innovative community college striving to re-envision our institution through an antiracist framework to advance equity in student engagement and learning. We value student learning experiences that foster inclusion and intercultural engagement in the classroom and that expand into our local and global communities. Faculty, staff, and administrators work collaboratively to lead initiatives that advance equitable student success: from closing areas of inequity to building guided career pathways. The college serves over 15,000 students in basic skills, transfer, and professional technical programs. Through continuous efforts, we have improved retention rates by 17% and graduation rates by 89%. This year, Pierce was again named a top community college by several national organizations.

Pierce College employees and students live and work in various communities that offer the diverse cultural and environmental benefits of rural, suburban, and urban lifestyles in the Pacific Northwest. As part of the community and technical college system in Washington State, the District includes Pierce College Fort Steilacoom, Pierce College Puyallup, Pierce College at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, as well as other extended learning sites.

Responsibilities of the successful candidate include:

• Designing and teaching a variety of courses in the department in a manner that promotes Black and Brown excellence
• Creating race-conscious course assessments and evaluations, assessing data, and engaging in continuous improvement of courses based on that analysis in order to advance student achievement of outcomes, success in subsequent courses, and impact on retention, graduation, and successful transition to employment or further education;
• Continuously innovating inclusive pedagogy and active learning experiences in response to assessment and evidence/data analysis;
• Demonstrating cultural humility and intercultural engagement, including an awareness and understanding of historically marginalized populations, and the creation of an educational environment that affirms the identities and communications of students of color;
• Incorporating appropriate and engaging technology across modalities (campus, online, and hybrid);
• Creatively designing learning experiences that extend beyond delivering content and assist students in achieving course, program, and degree outcomes, including the college's five core abilities of Intercultural Engagement; Critical, Creative and Reflective Thinking; Information Competency; Global Citizenship; and Effective Communication;
• Contributing to a collaborative and innovative department, division, and institution;
• Leading efforts to increase student success in Social Services Mental Health, including closing areas of inequity, particularly with regard to race and ethnicity;
• Teaching, advising, and mentoring students holistically from recruitment to completion and transition to employment or further education; 
• Outreach and coordination with community partners and professional/technical advisory boards; 
• Collaborate with Dean to recruit, interview, and make hiring recommendations for adjunct faculty;
• Coordinate the development of the SSMH annual course schedule;
• Engaging in shared governance including district-wide efforts to build a racially equitable institution focused on action to advance access, retention, and success for our most marginalized and vulnerable students and employees;
• Actively engaging with cohort peers as part of the First-Year Faculty Cohort in the first year of the tenure process, which will provide opportunities to engage with practices that enable Black and Brown student excellence.

Required:

Application Process

To be considered for this position, applicants must include the following items in their application package:

1. Letter of formal application that addresses how your experience and education qualifies you to perform the assigned instructional, administrative, and mentoring responsibilities of the position, centering efforts to remove systemic barriers that prevents Black and Brown student excellence and liberation (Cover Letter).
2. Responses to the following: Provide specific examples how you fulfill at least two of the following criteria: (a) Have experience or have demonstrated commitment to teaching, mentoring and/or engaging in services for Black and Brown students; (b) Have demonstrated knowledge of barriers for Black and Brown students and experience in addressing disproportionate impact at an institution; (c) Have experience in or have demonstrated commitment in facilitating Black and Brown students’ navigating a higher education institution; (d) Have experience or have demonstrated commitment to integrating elements of culturally relevant and inclusive pedagogy. (Supplemental Question).
3. Detailed curriculum vitae of all educational and professional experience, which includes a list of courses taught (Curriculum Vitae).
4. Unofficial copies of all college and university transcripts that include degree received and confer date. International transcripts must include a foreign transcript evaluation. For a list of approved credential evaluation services visit: https://www.naces.org/members. (Unofficial transcripts acceptable for application process; official transcripts required prior to hire) (Transcripts).
5. A list of four current professional references with name, relationship to candidate, address, email address, and telephone number. Letters of recommendation will not be accepted in lieu of a list of professional references (References).

Note: If your previous experiences do not involve working directly with students, you are encouraged to frame your responses to the supplemental question using your experiences working in the field and/or how this informs your vision in becoming an educator.

Terms of Employment:
This position, which is contingent upon funding, is a full-time, tenure-track assignment of 174 contracted days per year with the tenure process starting in September 2022, and with the opportunity to start working an earlier quarter. Assignment may include district discipline/program coordination, as well as evening, hybrid, and/or online teaching. This is a District position with a "home" campus assignment. Initial placement of this position will be at the Fort Steilacoom campus. Candidates will be working for a District Dean and will be required to attend district meetings as well as collaborate with colleagues across the district and across departments.

Initial salary placement for newly hired full-time faculty will be at one of five levels based upon qualifications including teaching experience and credentials. The five levels range from $60,374 to $65,173 per 174-day academic year. Opportunities for summer employment and other assignments are in addition to the base salary.

Sexual Misconduct and Background Check: 
Prior to start of employment, finalists(s) for this position will be subject to a pre-employment background check as a condition of employment. Information from the background check will not necessarily preclude employment, but will be considered in determining the applicant's suitability and competence to perform in the position.   Applicants considered for this position will be required to disclose if they are the subject of any substantiated findings or current investigations related to sexual misconduct at their current employment and past employment. Disclosure is required under Washington State Law.

Reasonable Accommodation:
Applicants with disabilities who require assistance with the application and employment process will be accommodated to the extent reasonably possible. Requests should be made to the District Human Resources Office by calling 253-964-7342.  Persons who are deaf or hard of hearing may dial 711 to place a call through Washington Relay, the state's free telecommunication access service.

Screening & Interview Process:
Only those candidates who have complied with the application process and have met the required qualifications will be considered. The most desirable candidates will be contacted for an interview. Application materials submitted to Pierce College are the property of the College and will not be returned.

Conditions of Employment:

• In compliance with the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, proof of authorization to work in the United States will be required at the time of hire. An offer of employment will not carry with it any responsibility or obligation on the part of the District to sponsor an H-1B visa. 
• Pierce College has adopted a Drug Free Workplace policy. As a condition of employment, employees must agree to abide by the requirements established in this policy.
• Per Governor Inslee’s Proclamation 21-14.2 (Download PDF reader) , state employees must be fully vaccinated no later than October 18, 2021.  Your vaccine status will be verified upon hire.  Please reach out to the HR Office at www.pierce.ctc.edu/hr if you need information on medical or religious accommodation.

Bargaining Unit:

• This position has been designated as a bargaining unit position represented by the Pierce College Federation of Teachers (PCFT).

The Pierce College District is an equal opportunity employer. The Board of Trustees and Pierce College District are committed to providing equal opportunity and will not discriminate in terms and conditions of employment and personnel practices for all persons without regard to race, color, national origin, age, perceived or actual physical or mental disability, pregnancy, genetic information, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, creed, religion, honorably discharged veteran or military status, or use of a trained guide dog or service animal.

For more information or assistance regarding your application, contact Human Resources at: jobs@pierce.ctc.edu. 

Questions regarding equal employment opportunities or discrimination may be directed to the following: 

Sean Cooke, Title IX Coordinator
 9401 Farwest Drive SW
 Lakewood, Washington 98498
 (253) 840-8472
 
 Tami Jacobs, ADACO/Section 504 Coordinator
 (253) 964-6581
 
 Holly Gorski, Vice President for Human Resources
 (253) 964-6519
 
 Paula Henson-Williams, District Affirmative Action Officer
 (253) 864-3229