Full-Time Design Faculty

Two Full-Time Faculty Positions in Industrial Design/Product Design & Two Full-Time Faculty Positions in Interaction Design 

Full-Time Faculty in Industrial Design/Product Design (two full-time positions)

The newly created School of Design and Creative Technologies (SDCT) at The University of Texas at Austin (UT) invites applications for two nine-month, full-time, open rank, non-tenure track, renewable faculty positions in the field of industrial design/product design, with a start date of August 2018.

The full-time faculty in industrial design/product design will typically teach three courses per semester (six courses per year) at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Their primary teaching responsibilities will include developing, delivering, and assessing 1) introductory sketching and prototyping courses for majors and non-majors; 2) introductory and advanced undergraduate industrial design/product design courses, broadly conceived; and 3) senior project and/or exhibition courses, graduate courses, thematic/special topics courses, and/or interdisciplinary team-taught courses that enroll students from multiple design specializations and/or university departments. They will also undertake a variety of service activities each year, such as participating in admissions reviews, undergraduate and graduate assessments, program reviews, faculty searches, curriculum development, and/or standing committees; advising student groups; and/or coordinating visiting lecturer visits, as assigned.

Required Qualifications

Candidates for these positions must:

• Demonstrate their familiarity with standard industry practices and business/legal constraints in industrial design/product design through their portfolio of professional design work;
• Demonstrate their familiarity with and engagement in historical, theoretical, social, and/or ethical concerns in design through their portfolio of work or writing, and/or through an earned terminal degree such as the MFA, Ph.D., or equivalent; and
• Provide evidence of their ability to teach industrial design/product design effectively at the university level (e.g., course evaluations from a previous faculty appointment, experience training new employees or leading workshops or charrettes, etc.)

Preferred Qualifications:

The SDCT is particularly interested in intellectually curious, flexible, collaboration-minded applicants who can provide evidence of their ability and willingness to:

• Teach design for access and inclusion (a.k.a. universal design);
• Teach courses in interaction/UI/UX design that focus on interactions, interfaces, and experiences involving humans and objects (e.g., wearables, smart textiles, experimental materials, assistive/health/wellness devices, IoT, cobots, etc.)
• Teach courses on prototyping and digital fabrication;
• Teach courses on design research and strategy in which students use “design thinking,” bibliographic research, ethnographic research, and other forms of design research and inquiry to inform the creation of new designs;
• Teach collaboratively with faculty in other units, including the Design Institute for Health, the Center for Integrated Design, etc.;
• Teach/supervise cross-disciplinary student product development teams enrolled in capstone, entrepreneurship, and graduate courses;
• Integrate discussions of design ethics, including the social and environmental consequences of the design act, into all courses in the curriculum; and
• Enact policies and adopt practices that foster an inclusive, diverse, and welcoming learning/working environment for students, faculty, and staff.

To apply for the position, please submit an application through Interfolio at http://apply.interfolio.com/48877, and upload pdfs of the following:

1. A letter of application discussing the ways in which your educational and professional background matches the required and preferred qualifications for the position;
2. A curriculum vitae (CV) that includes a link to a portfolio/professional website that showcases examples of your work;
3. Contact information for three references (letters will be requested only for finalists).

Review of applications will begin March 1, 2018 and will continue until the positions are filled.

Please contact SDCT Executive Assistant Mr. Cameron Weed at cweed@austin.utexas.edu with questions about the application process and Interfolio submissions, and search committee chair Dr. Carma Gorman (cgorman@utexas.edu) with questions about the positions themselves.

Full-Time Faculty in Interaction Design (two full-time positions)

The newly created School of Design and Creative Technologies (SDCT) at The University of Texas at Austin (UT) invites applications for two nine-month, full-time, open rank, non-tenure track, renewable faculty positions in the field of interaction design, with a start date of August 2018.

The full-time faculty in interaction design will typically teach three courses per semester (six courses per year) at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Their primary teaching responsibilities will include developing, delivering, and assessing 1) introductory courses in interaction design for majors and non-majors; 2) introductory and advanced undergraduate interaction design courses in areas such as UI/UX, AR/VR, creative coding, design research, experience design, interactive media, and/or time-based media for platforms such as desktop, web, social networking, mobile, physical space, and/or hardware (e.g. Arduino, Raspberry Pi, etc.); and 3) senior project and/or exhibition courses, graduate courses, thematic/special topics courses, and/or interdisciplinary team-taught courses that enroll students from multiple design specializations and/or university departments. The full-time faculty in interaction design will also undertake a variety of service activities each year, such as participating in admissions reviews, undergraduate and graduate assessments, program reviews, curriculum development, faculty searches, and/or standing committees; advising student groups; and/or coordinating visiting lecturer visits, as assigned.

Required Qualifications

Candidates for these positions must:

• Demonstrate their familiarity with standard industry practices and business/legal constraints in interaction design through their portfolio of professional design work;
• Demonstrate their familiarity with and engagement in historical, theoretical, social, and/or ethical concerns in design through their portfolio of work or writing, and/or through an earned terminal degree such as the MFA, Ph.D., or equivalent; and
• Provide evidence of their ability to teach interaction design effectively at the university level (e.g., course evaluations from a previous faculty appointment, experience training new employees or leading workshops or charrettes, etc.)

Preferred Qualifications:

The SDCT is particularly interested in intellectually curious, flexible, collaboration-minded applicants who can provide evidence of their ability and willingness to:

• Teach design for access and inclusivity;
• Teach courses in interaction design that focus on screen-based as well as on spatial, service, augmented-reality, and virtual-reality interactions, interfaces, and experiences;
• Teach courses on design research and strategy in which students use “design thinking,” bibliographic research, ethnographic research, and other forms of design research and inquiry to inform the design of human-to-human/human-to-device communication via digital and physical interfaces;
• Teach courses that foster a curiosity towards code and experimentation;
• Teach collaboratively with faculty in other units, including the Design Institute for Health and the Center for Integrated Design
• Develop new interaction-focused coursework and curriculum within an existing multi-disciplinary design program;
• Teach/supervise cross-disciplinary student product development teams enrolled in capstone, entrepreneurship, and graduate courses; and/or
• Enact policies and adopt practices that foster an inclusive, diverse, and welcoming learning/working environment for students, faculty, and staff.

To apply for the position, please submit an application through Interfolio at https://apply.interfolio.com/48878, and upload pdfs of the following:

1. A letter of application discussing the ways in which your educational and professional background matches the required and preferred qualifications for the position;
2. A curriculum vitae (CV) that includes a link to a portfolio/professional website that showcases examples of your work;
3. Contact information for three references (letters will be requested only for finalists).

Review of applications will begin March 1, 2018 and will continue until the positions are filled.

Please contact SDCT Executive Assistant Mr. Cameron Weed at cweed@austin.utexas.edu with questions about the application process and Interfolio submissions, and search committee chair Dr. Carma Gorman (cgorman@utexas.edu) with questions about the positions themselves.

The School of Design and Creative Technologies (SDCT)

The School of Design and Creative Technologies was founded in 2017 as the fourth major academic unit in the College of Fine Arts, alongside the Department of Art and Art History, the Butler School of Music, and the Department of Theatre and Dance. The SDCT houses the Department of Design, the Department of Arts and Entertainment Technologies, the Center for Integrated Design, the Design Institute for Health, the Game and Mobile Media Applications (GAMMA) Program, and the Bridging Disciplines Programs in Digital Arts & Media and Design Strategies. The newly created Department of Design is an outgrowth of the Department of Art and Art History’s Design Division, which began offering a B.F.A. in Design in 1992, an M.F.A. in Design in 2001, and a B.A. in Design in 2016.

The University of Texas at Austin (UT)

The University of Texas at Austin is a flagship, comprehensive research university of over 50,000 students that is routinely ranked in the top 50 universities globally by U.S. News and World Report, Times Higher Education, and the Center for World University Rankings. UT is located in Austin, the capital of Texas, a city justly renowned for its vibrant cultural life and its thriving creative and tech industries. Austin is routinely included in top-ten lists of best US cities for new college grads, for young professionals, for future job growth, and for outdoor activities, urban forests, and family friendliness.

EEO Statement

The University of Texas at Austin, as an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer, complies with all applicable federal and state laws regarding nondiscrimination and affirmative action. The University is committed to a policy of equal opportunity for all persons and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, disability, religion, or veteran status in employment, educational programs and activities, and admissions.

SDCT encourages applications from candidates belonging to groups that have been historically underrepresented in higher education, including women, ethnic minorities, the differently-abled, and members of the LGBTQIA community.