Assistant Professor of Food and the Built Environment

Available Title(s):

270-NN_FACULTY - Assistant Professor

Business Title:

Assistant Professor of Food and the Built Environment

Employee Type:

Faculty

Time Type:

Full time

Position Term:

9 Month

Position Details:

The Opportunity:

The School of Design and Construction (SDC) at Washington State University (WSU) Pullman invites applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor in Food and the Built Environment. Part of an ongoing cluster hire initiative in Racism and Social Inequality in the Americas, this position will join a cohort of four new hires in 2024-25 building a network of faculty committed to the scholarship and teaching of social, racial, and environmental justice.  In addition, the incumbent in this position is expected to be a fully engaged faculty colleague within the SDC.

In the SDC, we seek a community-engaged scholar who can connect food equity, access, production, and aesthetics to the world of design and construction. This scholar will address how environmental degradation and the built environment endanger community sustenance and will help provide solutions through community-engaged work. This hire also will provide on-the-ground learning opportunities that allow students to recognize and address food sovereignty as fundamental to design and construction (for example, through studios, site visits, and/or design-build projects).

A community-engaged food scholar would be well-positioned to participate in the SDC’s interdisciplinary programs, which offer hands-on opportunities and practical training. The SDC is home to professionally accredited undergraduate and graduate programs in architecture (B.S./M.Arch.), landscape architecture (B.L.A.), interior design (B.A./M.A.), construction management (B.S.), and construction engineering (B.S.). Although a new hire may have a terminal degree in one these disciplines or a related field, we expect them to deliver research and content that transcends disciplinary boundaries and works toward the larger goal of a food-secure, beautiful, energy-independent, and ethical built environment.

Cross-disciplinary research at the SDC includes the Rural Community Design Initiative (RCDI), which directly serves small, rural, under-resourced communities in the Pacific Northwest through integrated, action-oriented work. It also includes the school’s Water, Grass, and Ecology Laboratory, which examines ways to decontaminate and safely allow stormwater runoff to recharge the aquifers. The lab’s research is a collaborative effort with faculty and students in the College of Agricultural and Human Natural Resource Sciences (CAHNRS). We seek a new faculty member in Food and the Built Environment who would contribute to and facilitate hands-on, community-engaged opportunities like these and would be encouraged to build upon or initiate other collaborative projects that emphasize food systems and the built environment.

WSU is committed to building a diverse, equitable, and inclusive university community. The university recognizes that fostering an inclusive environment for all, with particular attention to the needs of historically marginalized populations, is vital to the pursuit of excellence in all aspects of our institutional mission. Towards continually strengthening this commitment, we seek candidates whose research, teaching, and/or service has prepared them to be an integral contributor to the continued advancement of inclusion, diversity, equity, and access here at WSU.

This position is part of a faculty cluster hire initiative in the scholarship and teaching about racism and social inequality in the Americas, with a particular focus this year on Food and Environmental Justice. The university is particularly interested in hiring scholars who are deeply connected to and integrated into the communities that they study as a means to build on our strong tradition of engaged and applied scholarship at WSU.

Our university has a continuing commitment to building cultural competence for all our members and ensuring equity and meaningful inclusion in our classrooms, collaborations, and academic work. The successful candidate for this faculty position will have the experience, knowledge, and skills to build their research, pedagogy, curriculum, and service in ways that reflect and enhance this commitment.

Land Acknowledgement:
WSU acknowledges that its locations statewide are on the homelands of Native American peoples, who have lived in this region and have been caretakers of the land from time immemorial. The Morrill Act of 1862 established our land-grant institution by providing public and federal lands that are traced back to the disposition of Indigenous lands, often taken by coercive and violent acts, and the disregard of treaties. For that, we extend our deepest apologies. We owe our deepest gratitude to the Native peoples of this region and maintain our commitment towards reconciliation. And as a land-grant institution, WSU is deeply committed to the land-grant mission, its Memorandums of Understanding with Native tribes in the region, and a tradition of service to society.

Line of Responsibility:
This position reports administratively to the Director of the School of Design and Construction.

Major Program Duties and Responsibilities:

• Develop a nationally recognized research program which supports advancing WSU’s position in food and the built environment.

• Deliver courses within the SDC programs including studios, lectures, or seminars, as assigned.

• Disseminate research in national and/or international peer-reviewed venues and pursue grant opportunities to complete this work.

• Collaborate with faculty in departments and units across the WSU system to research topics regarding food and the built environment.

• Participate in school, college, and university committees and service as requested.

Required Qualifications:

• A PhD or terminal master’s degree in any of the following fields including (but not limited to) landscape architecture, construction management, interior design, architecture, construction engineering, city and regional planning, urban design, civil engineering, environmental engineering, environmental sciences, history, sociology, education, public policy, political science, or law.  

• Demonstrate the potential to develop a nationally recognized research program in community-engaged scholarship.  

• A demonstrated history of conducting collaborative scholarship.  

• A demonstrated ability to teach required courses within one discipline of the SDC.  

• Experience with instruction, mentoring, or tutoring in academic or community settings.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Able to teach required courses in multiple programs in the SDC, such as design studios, history, building science, or construction management courses.

• Record of external funding and publications.

• Superior interpersonal and collaborative skills.

• Experience teaching or working with students outside the classroom.

• Professional registration/certification in your field.

Additional Information:

Area/College: Voiland College of Engineering and Architecture (VCEA)

Department Name: School of Design and Construction (SDC)

City, State, Zip: Pullman, WA, 99164- 2220

Department Link: VCEA School of Design and Construction

Academic Year (9 month) Salary: $77,000 - $85,000 | In accordance with RCW 49.58.110 , the above salary reflects the full salary range for this position. Individual placement within the range is based on the candidate’s current experience, education, skills, and abilities related to the position. WSU offers a comprehensive benefits package which includes paid sick and vacation leave; paid holidays; medical, dental, life and disability insurance package for employees and dependents; retirement; deferred compensation and optional supplemental retirement accounts. For a more detailed summary of benefits offered by WSU for Faculty please review the summary of benefits for WSU Faculty and Total Compensation
FTE: 100%

This is a permanent tenure track position.

Posting Close Date:
Applicants must submit their application by March 15, 2024. First consideration will be provided to applications submitted prior to November 15, 2023.

Background Check: This position has been designated by the department to require a background check because it requires access to children or vulnerable adults as defined by RCW 74.34 , engages in law enforcement, requires security clearance, interacts with WSU students in a counseling or advising capacity, has access to personal identifying and/or financial information, unsupervised access to university buildings/property, or other business-related need.  A background check will not be completed until an initial determination of qualification for employment has been made.

Application Instructions:

A complete application must include:

• Cover letter outlining the candidate’s interests, qualifications, pertinent experience, and vision for the position in Food and the Built Environment. The letter should articulate three areas of responsibility directly related to fulfilling the position and explain how your past education and teaching experiences, and resulting knowledge and skills, have prepared you to do this work. We encourage letters that speak specifically to why the SDC, WSU, Pullman, and/or the Palouse is an ideal place to pursue your research and teaching.

• A brief (1-2 pages) research statement addressing your research focus and methodologies, as well as the broader social applications of your research and/or impact on communities.

• A brief (1-2 pages) teaching statement addressing your teaching approaches and philosophies, including ways in which you address issues of educational equity.

• Curriculum Vitae.

• Contact information for at least three (3) professional references. References will not be contacted without first informing the candidate.

For questions about the position, please contact Professor Phil Gruen, Search Committee Chair, Email: [email protected].

WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY/AFFIRMATIVE ACTION EDUCATOR AND EMPLOYER. Members of ethnic minorities, women, special disabled veterans, veterans of the Vietnam-era, recently separated veterans, and other protected veteran, persons of disability and/or persons age 40 and over are encouraged to apply.

WSU employs only U.S. citizens and lawfully authorized non-U.S. citizens. All new employees must show employment eligibility verification as required by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

WSU is committed to providing access and reasonable accommodation in its services, programs, activities, education and employment for individuals with disabilities. To request disability accommodation in the application process, contact Human Resource Services: 509-335-4521 (v), Washington State TDD Relay Service: Voice Callers: 1-800-833-6384; TDD Callers: 1-800-833-6388, 509-335-1259(f), or [email protected] .