Assistant Professor, 1st Year Composition Director

Please submit a CV and cover letter describing your experience with writing program administration, research agenda, and teaching experience by Monday, January 8, 2024. 

Candidates selected for additional consideration may be contacted to send additional materials such as letters of recommendation, writing samples, teaching philosophy, etc.  First-level interviews will be conducted via Zoom and then selected candidates will be invited to campus.    

Direct inquiries about the position can be sent to the search committee chair, Dr. Sara Farris at [email protected].

The Department of English at the University of Houston-Downtown (UHD) is seeking a tenure-track Assistant Professor to join the faculty and serve as First-Year Composition (FYC) Director, beginning August 2024.  The successful candidate will collaborate with current faculty to enhance well-established curricular and institutional programs. 

Our FYC Director will be an experienced leader who has administrative experience in a writing program or writing center that is ready to support and collaborate with our diverse students, faculty, and staff.   The search committee is especially interested in hearing from candidates who approach first-year composition from multiple perspectives and who are prepared to guide instructors in the promotion of critical thinking in their classrooms.  To this end, our FYC Director will draw from current composition praxis to provide curricular, administrative, and pedagogical leadership for teachers in our FYC program via effective communication and professional development opportunities.

Publications in the candidate’s field of expertise and university service are required for tenure. The teaching load is 4/3 but the FYC Director position comes with two course releases each long semester resulting in a 2/1 teaching load.  Additional adjustments are made for graduate teaching. 

EEO/AA

Required Qualifications 

• PhD in Rhetoric & Composition by initial appointment 
• Administrative experience in a writing program or writing center
• Teaching experience in First-Year Composition

Preferred Qualifications 

• Expertise with first-generation and non-traditional student populations
• Trans-lingual theories and pedagogies of writing
• Experience and/or research in multi-modal composition and language variation
• Additional experience teaching advanced composition courses and graduate courses in composition and rhetoric

About University of Houston Downtown

The second-largest university in Houston, the University of Houston-Downtown (UHD) is a comprehensive, four-year, urban university in the heart of downtown. Led by President Loren J. Blanchard, UHD is a community of diverse faculty, staff, students, and regional partners dedicated to nurturing talent, generating knowledge, and driving socioeconomic mobility for a just and sustainable future.  

Since opening its doors in 1974, UHD has grown in size, scope, and service, now offering 46 bachelor’s and 11 master’s degree programs and 17 fully online programs within its four colleges: Marilyn Davies College of Business, College of Humanities & Social Sciences, College of Public Service, and College of Sciences & Technology.

UHD educates approximately 15,000 students annually. With more than 77% of UHD’s students coming directly from Harris County, UHD is not just a university in Houston, but Houston’s University and an Anchor Institution for the region.

UHD is recognized as a Hispanic-Serving Institution, a Minority-Serving Institution, and a Military-Friendly School. While the student population is largely Hispanic at 53% and African-American at 20%, more than 64 countries are represented. Furthermore, UHD has the most affordable tuition among four-year universities in Houston, and its graduates have the lowest student loan debt in the state. Importantly, 70% of UHD freshman students are the first in their families to attend college.

UHD is one of the four distinct and separate components of the University of Houston System, which also includes the University of Houston, University of Houston-Clear Lake, and University of Houston-Victoria.  Instructional Sites operated by UHD are University of Houston-Downtown Northwest, University of Houston-Downtown at Lone Star College-Kingwood, and University of Houston-Downtown at HCC-Coleman College.

The University of Houston is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action institution and recognizes protected classes of race, color, sex (including pregnancy), genetic information, religion, age (40 and above), national origin, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or status, and gender expression as required by federal law. Veterans and persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply.