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The Department of Educational Policy Studies in the College of Education at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) seeks applications for the position of Department Chair. This is a 9 month 100% position at the associate or full professor rank. UIC’s College of Education is ranked in the top 41 Colleges of Education in the nation and Education Administration and Supervision in the Department of Educational Policy Studies is ranked #24.

The College seeks a strong leader who will collaborate with us to create a scholarly and human community that promotes racial justice and equity where no one experiences racism, oppression, discrimination, or marginalization. Organizational leadership, educational policy, and social foundations are deeply implicated in the extraordinary social and economic challenges facing urban communities in the U.S. and within a global context—racial injustice, police violence, migration and displacement, marginalization of undocumented people, and gender-based violence or attacks on queer, trans, and gender non-conforming people, and extremes of social, economic, and spatial inequality, and inclusion/exclusion—to name a few. The urgency is evident in the daily examples of anti-Blackness, anti-Asian hate crimes, anti-Arabism, antisemitism, the prominence of legislation against anti-racist curriculum and teaching, as well as the resurgence of social movements, locally, nationally, and globally. We seek a leader who would be drawn to a group of colleagues who pursue this interdisciplinary work collaboratively and publicly.

The Department of Educational Policy Studies is home to 15 faculty members and 200 graduate students who engage in research, teaching, and collaborations with communities, addressing the most pressing issues in education. The Department offers opportunities to study social foundations of education, educational organizations and leadership, urban higher education, and educational policy and law.

The department has a long and celebrated history of producing scholars, educators, and leaders whose work has shaped the educational research community, nationally and internationally, and the practices and contexts of schooling in Chicago Public Schools, the nation’s third largest school district. Through its three doctoral programs (i.e., PhD Policy Studies-Social Foundations; PhD Policy Studies-Education, Leadership, and Policy; EdD Urban Education Leadership) and two master’s programs (i.e., MEd, Urban Higher Education and MEd, Instructional Leadership-Policy), the Department of Educational Policy Studies prepares educators, researchers, and advocates to lead and work effectively in urban schools, institutions of higher education, and other educational and community contexts. Our scholarship is grounded in a commitment to social, racial, and economic justice. Department faculty co-founded, and are affiliates of, the Center for Urban Educational Leadership, which researches the best ways to prepare leaders for urban schools; advocates for quality models of principal preparation at local, state, and national policy levels; and serves as a hub for information dissemination to other researchers and the public on advancements in school leader development. Department faculty and students are also known as activist scholars who collaborate with communities to further racial, educational, and social justice.

The Department Chair is expected to work with faculty in collectively building upon and renewing our existing strengths, including nurturing the Department’s research productivity, supporting an optimal educational experience for students, continuing to strengthen our nationally-recognized programs, intensifying our efforts to engage with communities, and advocating for the Department inside and outside UIC. Consistent with the responsibilities of a faculty line, the Chair teaches 1 course twice a year, mentors students, and supervises doctoral dissertations, conducts research, pursues funding, and provides service at the university, college, and department levels, the field of expertise, and/or the community.

Required Qualifications:

• Earned doctorate in education or closely related field;
• Qualified at the associate or full professor rank;
• Demonstrated administrative leadership and organizational development;
• Exemplary record of research and teaching relative to rank;
• Strong demonstrated commitment to justice-oriented, urban education;
• Excellent communicator with effective interpersonal skills;
• Experience managing budgets and leading personnel;
• Demonstrated practice in supporting and advocating with BIPOC and other marginalized faculty, staff, and students.

Desirable Qualifications:

• K-12 and/or university teaching experience in urban settings;
• Experience with securing funding to enhance research;
• Demonstrated ability in developing successful partnerships;
• Willingness to engage in efforts aligned with the College’s mission.

Please submit the following application materials electronically at https://jobs.uic.edu/job-board/job-details?jobID=161202  by March 25, 2022.

• letter of application addressing fit with expectations for the position;
• curriculum vitae; and
• two recent publications.