The Department of Educational Policy Studies, in the College of Education at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) seeks to hire an Associate Professor in Higher Education (with tenure) to serve as the inaugural program coordinator of a M.Ed. in Urban Higher Education.  The UIC College of Education has an established reputation for its focus on urban education and educational leadership.  UIC serves a diverse undergraduate and graduate student population and is federally recognized as a Minority Serving Institution (MSI) through its status as a funded Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institution (AANAPSI) and a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI).

This newly minted M.Ed. in Urban Higher Education (UHE), which is the first in the country to emphasize urban higher education, explores issues in the academy related to, and informed by, the urban context—including the opportunities afforded by cities and educating their inhabitants as well as the persistent challenges of equitable access to higher education. The UHE program will draw from, and build on, the scholarship of the College of Education, including its Center for Urban Education Leadership which prepares principals and leaders for K-12 schools. In addition to maintaining individual research agendas, faculty in the College of Education frequently collaborate on a variety of applied research projects.

Minimum qualifications.  The applicant must have a doctoral degree in higher education, or a related field, and must have a minimum of three years of experience working in a higher education institution.

Required qualifications. The successful candidate will demonstrate an understanding of the environment and context of urban higher education, and will have a scholarly publication record that (a) contributes to conversations in the field of higher education around equity, access, diversity, and inclusion and (b) is commensurate with the rank of associate professor in the College of Education.  The candidate will demonstrate a potential for securing external funding.

A successful candidate will also have experience in program and course development and will be able to harness the energy of stakeholders at UIC to build this new master’s program.  Additionally, the candidate will have a record of strong teaching at the university level, experience advising and mentoring students, and a commitment to promoting educational equity and social justice. 

Preferred qualifications

In addition to the qualifications above, the ideal candidate will have current knowledge of the social, political, economic and institutional factors that define the opportunities and challenges for students, faculty and staff in urban higher education.  The ideal candidate will have leadership experience within higher education and consequently recognize the distinctive leadership role(s) that all higher education professionals perform in realizing the mission of urban higher education institutions. Experience teaching F2F and online is also preferred.