Assistant Professor In Visual Art Education

Job Description

The University of Kansas has prepared professional art educators for school, museum, and community settings for over 80 years. As the leading program in Kansas, VAE alumni are art teachers, museum professionals, professors, developers of community art programs, and advocates for arts education across the state and country. This year the VAE program is implementing a new BFA degree with a concentration in art education and will begin developing additional tracks for certificates and graduate concentrations.

The faculty and staff of the Department of Visual Art are comprised of internationally recognized artists and scholars with interests that span a broad range of media and disciplines including Painting and Drawing, Printmaking, Sculpture, Expanded Media, Ceramics, Metalsmithing & Jewelry, as well as Fibers & Textiles. Dedicated to educating the next generation of artists and educators, faculty prioritize mentorship, offering students individual attention and small class sizes.

One of the earliest programs at the University, the Department of Visual Art, located in Chalmers Hall, is a 130,000 facility which provides space and opportunity for students to develop a unique artistic voice through critical inquiry, research, and practice. The department awards BFA, BA, and studio MFA degrees and is accredited through the National Association of Schools of Art and Design. The VAE Program is also accredited through the Kansas Department of Education and the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation.

The Department of Visual art is housed in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. The College emphasizes interdisciplinary, experiential learning and global awareness, houses a vibrant university wide Honors Program that highlights undergraduate research and service activities, and has created strong affiliations with outstanding cross-disciplinary research centers, including the Biodiversity Institute, Kansas Biological Survey, Kansas Geological Survey, the Hall Center for the Humanities, the Life Span Institute, the Institute for Policy and Social Research, the Spencer Museum of Art and the Natural History Museum.

These relationships have brought a broad range of disciplines together to pursue sponsored research and education at the international, national, state, regional and local levels.

The College is home to internationally recognized scholars and scientists who brought in $44M in research funding in FY 2021, nearly 30% of the total funded research at KU Lawrence.

Job Duties

40% Research Responsibilities: Develop a productive and sustained scholarly practice centered on the field of art education.

Such activities include, but are not limited to, publication of original research, commentary, and review of peer scholarship in authored books, scholarly journals, edited books, monographs, research reports; presentation of research at professional meetings; editing books and scholarly journals; consulting; and earning grants, awards, and/or fellowships from external sources. Commensurate with the expectations of a Research One AAU institution, faculty research must continue to develop through the tenure process and beyond the promotion of full professor.

40% Teaching/Advising Responsibilities: Each Fall and Spring semester faculty teach two courses plus contact hours with independent study students and occasionally participate in MFA graduate seminar.

Faculty members are expected to strive for excellence in the classroom, encourage the free exchange of diverse views, foster a learning environment that is supportive of individuals from diverse backgrounds and be available to students as mentor and advisor. Faculty members must also have the capacity to innovate curriculum to meet contemporary needs of the professional field. Faculty teach students from beginning to advanced levels.

They may develop and teach special topics classes. Further, they supervise, assess, and report on student teachers' performance including in-person observations and conferences with interns and clinical supervisors. Faculty members prepare for and attend all class meetings, hold regular office hours, participate in academic advising, and participate in additional facets of teaching as assigned. Faculty members are expected to adhere to Departmental, College, and University policies on teaching.

20% Service Responsibilities: All faculty share in the work of the department, which includes attending faculty meetings; serving on committees in the Department, College, and University; and collaborating with colleagues on campus and in the community to further the mission of the Department and University. Furthermore, VAE faculty take part in art education activities locally and across the state; participate in data collection and reporting to the School of Education and Human Sciences as part of the accreditation process; and support, maintain, and advocate for the continuing vitality of visual art education in Kansas and the nation.

Faculty Code: Faculty members are expected to carry out their responsibilities in accordance with the Faculty Code of Rights, Responsibilities, and Conduct, currently viewable at: http://policy.ku.edu/FacultyCodeKULawrence/faculty-code-of-rights.

Required Qualifications

• To be completed by start date, a terminal degree in Visual Art Education including a PhD in Art Education, EdD, or a degree in a closely related field from an accredited university including DFA (Doctorate in Fine Arts), DA (Doctorate in Studio Art or other doctoral degrees that incorporate Visual Art Education as a central course of study).

• Evidence of a broad preparation in art education including curriculum theory and implementation, research methods, and the history and philosophical foundations of the field.

• Demonstrated ability to undertake and maintain a record of significant scholarly research.

• Comprehensive background in traditional and contemporary art and the ability to stay current with developing technologies and concepts in the field.

• Evidence teaching in K-12 schools (full time, one year minimum) and evidence of university level teaching.

• Ability to teach a broad range of courses to diverse students including majors, general education students, non-traditional students, etc.