Job no: 505821
Work type: Instructional Faculty – Tenured/Tenure-Track
Location: San José
Categories: Unit 3 - CFA - California Faculty Association, Faculty - Fine/Performing Arts, Tenured/Tenure-Track, Full Time

Position Rank and Title: Assistant Professor of Interaction or Information Design

School/Department Name: Department of Design

Compensation: Commensurate with qualifications, experience, and rank as established by the CSU Salary Schedule. See Benefits Summary for details about the CSU’s excellent employment benefits.

Target Start Date: August 2022

Application Deadline: January 25, 2022 (Applications accepted until filled or closed)

Position Description

The San José State University Department of Design seeks candidates for a full-time, tenure track faculty position in interaction or information design. The appointment will be made at the level of Assistant Professor. The anticipated start date is August 2022.

We are searching for an innovative designer with the potential to develop a robust creative and research practice. The ideal candidate’s design practice and research will engage with one or more of the following areas: interaction design, information design, data visualization, user-experience/user-interface design, data-driven design, human-computer interaction, interactive media design, design with emerging technology or other expanded media design and design-related fields. Candidates must be willing to collaborate with both other disciplines within the design department of design, college and University. We believe that such collaborations create a charged atmosphere for study and a critical edge for research, and we seek candidates with an ability to thrive within this context. Applicants should consider how their work might connect with the college’s Deep Humanities and Arts Initiative, perhaps through understanding or addressing issues of diversity in technology related to data generation and accessibility. Applicants must demonstrate a commitment to inclusivity and improving access for diverse and underrepresented student groups.

The Department of Design is committed to design, research, and scholarship at the highest level. The Department is centered around creative technologies and we are looking for faculty who are seeking to use technology in adaptive, inclusive, poetic, collaborative and experimental ways. We are also socially responsible, we strive to make design accessible and equitable, and we have a culturally engaged vision of design across our programs. The department offers four professional degrees, and is organized around five discipline groups: Interior Design, Industrial Design, Interaction Design, Graphic Design and Animation. Our faculty include designers, architects, artists, and historians who are committed to excellence, and collaboration extensively across the Department, College, University, Silicon Valley and beyond.

Given this context, the Department of Design seeks outstanding candidates for an interaction or information designer who can teach future generations to shape the experiences of products, systems, and services: mobile, web, wearable computing, connected devices, and interactive systems that affect personal, social and societal contexts. Building on a careful analysis of insights from first hand research in today’s world with industry partners, the new faculty member, in our graphic design, industrial design, and new interaction area, will envision courses that teach students to prototype relevant, appropriate, delightful, ethical and sustainable experiences that push the boundaries of the relationship between people and technology. Candidates must demonstrate the potential to teach studios, workshops and seminars to students from a diversity of backgrounds.

The Department of Design and San José State University value diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. Our excellence in research, teaching, and service can only be fully realized by faculty, students, and staff who share our commitment to these values. SJSU enrolls more than 36,000 students, many of whom are historically underserved, and around 45% are first-generation and 38% are Pell-recipients. SJSU is a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) and Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander (AANAPISI) Serving Institution. The university’s commitment to social justice extends from its vibrant, inclusive campus to an international network of over 275,000 alumni. As such, San José State is committed to increasing the diversity of its faculty so our disciplines, students, and the community can benefit from multiple ethnic and gender perspectives.

Successful candidates will demonstrate evidence of a commitment to equity and inclusion through their research, teaching, and/or service. We ask that all applicants include a Diversity Statement with their application package. A guide to writing this statement can be found at [https://www.sjsu.edu/provost/faculty-success/sjsu-diversity-statement-guidelines-for-faculty-applicants.php], along with information about how these statements will be evaluated.

Required Qualifications

• A terminal degree (MFA, MDes, PhD) in interaction or information design or other related fields is required. Completion of degree must occur before the targeted start date.
• At least three years of professional experience in research or design practice in the areas of interaction or information design or other related fields (i.g. user-experience design, user-interface design, digital product design, interaction design, data visualization, visual design).
• A demonstrable body of work (portfolio) that exhibits excellence in design that is relevant to interaction or information design.
• Applicants should demonstrate an awareness of and sensitivity to the educational goals of a socially and economically diverse student population as might have been gained in cross-cultural study, training, teaching, and other comparable experience.

Preferred Qualifications

Priority will be given to candidates who possess one or more of the following:

• A track record of success, or demonstrated potential for success, conducting research or creative activity that is relevant to the position and that results in recognition (published, exhibited, awarded).
• Two or more semesters (or quarters) of teaching experience within higher education.
• Demonstrated experience in designing for domains related to both interaction and information.
• The ability to collaborate with and work well with faculty from other fields of design.
• The potential to attract industry collaboration, funding and sponsorship.
• A deep understanding of or ability to address issues of diversity in technology related to data generation and accessibility.

Key Responsibilities

• The candidate will be responsible for teaching undergraduate classes in interaction or information design.
• The candidate will provide academic advising to students, participate in curriculum development, serve on academic committees, and conduct research and/or creative activity. Effectiveness in teaching assignments, research, scholarly, and creative activities, and department/college/university service are all required to achieve tenure and promotion.
• The candidate will participate in shared governance, usually in department, college, and university committees and other service assignments.
• The candidate must demonstrate awareness and experience understanding the needs of a student population of great diversity – in age, abilities, cultural background, ethnicity, religion, economic background, primary language, sexual orientation, gender identity, and academic preparation – through inclusive course materials, teaching strategies and advice.

Application Procedure

Click Apply Now to complete the SJSU Online Employment Application and attach the following documents:

• letter of interest
• curriculum vitae
• diversity statement
• portfolio of design work (PDF or link to website)
• optional: portfolio of examples of student design work (PDF or link to website)
• research agenda and plan (explain your research interests and plans for working within those areas at SJSU)
• statement of teaching interests and philosophy (describe curriculum that you are interested in teaching and the way that you approach design education)
• three reference letters

Inquiries may be directed to the Department Chair or Search Committee Chair: Department Chair, Virginia San Fratello: virginia.sanfratello@sjsu.edu; Search Committee Chair, Josh Nelson: joshua.nelson@sjsu.edu.

Conditional Offer

Employment is contingent upon proof of eligibility to work in the United States. Satisfactory completion of a background check (including a criminal records check) is required for employment. CSU will make a conditional offer of employment, which may be rescinded if the background check reveals disqualifying information, and/or it is discovered that the candidate knowingly withheld or falsified information. Failure to satisfactorily complete the background check may affect the continued employment of a current CSU employee who was conditionally offered the position.

San José State University: Silicon Valley's Public University

Located in the heart of Silicon Valley — one of the most innovative regions in the world — San José State University is the founding campus of the 23-campus California State University (CSU) system and the first public university in the West. The 2020 #1 Most Transformative University in the nation according to Money Magazine, San José State is an essential partner in the economic, cultural and social development of Silicon Valley, the Bay Area and California. SJSU is a top-200 school nationally in research funding and second highest in research productivity in the CSU system. This cutting-edge research, combined with its world-class scholarship, student-centered learning opportunities, and experiential and interdisciplinary programs, allows SJSU to provide transformative opportunities that advance the public good locally and globally.

Equal Employment Statement

San José State University is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer. We consider qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, age, gender, gender identity/expression, sexual orientation, genetic information, medical condition, marital status, veteran status, or disability. This policy applies to all San José State University students, faculty, and staff as well as University programs and activities. Reasonable accommodations are made for applicants with disabilities who self-disclose. Note that all San José State University employees are considered mandated reporters under the California Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act and are required to comply with the requirements set forth in CSU Executive Order 1083 as a condition of employment.

Advertised: October 13, 2021 (9:00 AM) Pacific Daylight Time
Applications close: Open until filled