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The School of Education at the University of Massachusetts Lowell is seeking an equity-minded, collaborative colleague to fill a Visiting Assistant Professor position for its expanding online Ed.D. Leadership in Schooling program. The applicant has the option to work remotely except during the annual one-week July residency requirement. The appointment is scheduled to begin May 2024.

The Ed.D. is a practitioner-based program designed to support the on-going professional needs of educational leaders in K-12 contexts. It is one of the few programs in the country to offer a STEM Leadership option as part of an online doctoral program and it is an active member of the Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate (https://www.cpedinitiative.org). The program is anchored in the belief that by leveraging a professional knowledge base that integrates practical experience and research evidence during systematic inquiry, school leaders can make a substantial impact on the lives of the students, families, and communities they serve. The online Ed.D. in Leadership in Schooling program is a 42-credit-hour, cohort-based program. More information can be found at: https://www.uml.edu/Education/Doctorate/ED-Leadership.aspx

Responsibilities include:

This position is designed to exclusively support the continued growth and improvement of the Ed.D. program. Position responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• Teaching a total of six graduate-level asynchronous online courses (which includes teaching in the summer, fall and/or spring terms, chairing dissertations-in practice committees),
• Chairing and/or serving on dissertation-in-practice committees, reviewing student portfolios and qualifying papers,
• Advising of student cohorts when needed,
• Participating in the program’s annual week-long summer on-campus residency,
• Providing program coordination support, which includes planning and facilitating program meetings with the program coordinator, and
• Assisting in the continuous improvement of the EDD program (e.g., program recruitment, evaluation, etc.) and other responsibilities as the program requires.

The School of Education is one of twelve academic units in the College of Fine Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. The School of Education (SOE) contributes to the recognized success of UMass Lowell, which is ranked in the top 200 of national research universities (US News and World Report) and is one of the fastest growing universities in the country. Lowell is approximately 25 miles north of Boston and is a mid-size city with a diverse population. It is home to the second largest Cambodian population in the country but is also home to people whose family heritage includes such countries as Ghana, Uganda, Nigeria, Brazil, and the Caribbean. Because of its place in the history of the industrialization of the USA, the National Park Service established the Lowell National Historical Park (LNHP). The LNHP in collaboration with the SOE oversees the Tsongas Industrial History Center, which, each year, brings 40,000 children to Lowell for place-based, experiential learning.

The SOE currently serves 400 graduate students and 120 undergraduates. The School has 15 tenured or tenure track faculty and five clinical faculty. Education degrees are offered at the undergraduate and graduate level. During the last five years, the SOE has launched exciting new initiatives to meet the needs of a rapidly expanding student body: a Carnegie-recognized doctoral degree program for school leaders, a School Leadership Institute (professional development for standing school administrators), Ph.D. degrees, a US Department of State grant-funded international education program, a new BA Ed degree with dual license in elementary and special education, a UTeach program for undergraduate STEM education, and a Center for Program Evaluation.

The SOE faculty is composed of engaged and innovative scholars who generate and apply knowledge, create programs, and collaborate with partners, guided by values of democracy, inclusion, excellence, and service. The SOE is committed to building a diverse faculty in order to fulfill our mission of serving socio-economically, ethnically and linguistically diverse students and promoting global understanding of educational issues.

We are seeking an individual who has (1) a demonstrated commitment to developing K-12 school leaders who strive to improve the educational opportunities of diverse and historically underserved communities; (2) the demonstrated expertise to teach K-12 school leadership courses that are anchored in one or more of the following areas: Improvement Science or related approaches to continuous improvement; culturally responsive, anti-racist pedagogy; (3) a record of supporting/supervising doctoral research that promotes continuous school improvement and social justice; (4) demonstrated experience in quantitative or mixed methods, and (5) excellent teaching and communication skills.  

Minimum Qualifications (Required):

• Ph.D. or Ed.D. in Educational Leadership, Education Policy, Organizational Leadership, or a related field awarded before start of the appointment
• Experience teaching or mentoring adult learners
• Experience leading or working with leadership in the PK-12 context

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience in improvement science/improvement research [e.g., design-based research/action research, continuous improvement, PDSA cycles, etc.
• Experience delivering online courses at the post-undergraduate or graduate level
• Experience in culturally relevant/anti-racist pedagogy
• Experience in supervision of practice-based dissertations that promote social justice
• Experience in quantitative or mixed methods research
• Ability to collaborate on program development and improvement 
• Strong interpersonal, collaboration, and organizational skills 
• In-person participation in on campus School of Education faculty events and meetings

Special Instructions to Applicants:

Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled. However, the position may close when an adequate number of qualified applications is received. 

Please include the following required documents with your application:            

• Comprehensive Curriculum Vitae (CV)
• Cover letter describing: the candidate’s past, present, and future (planned) contributions to equity, diversity, and inclusion; a commitment to working with graduate students who are working professionals; teaching proficiency; research experiences, particularly as they apply to improvement research; collaborative work undertaken; and any experiences with online teaching
• One course syllabus germane to the courses which might be taught at UMass Lowell
• An evaluation of your teaching skills (provide either a synopsis of participant evaluations of a course you have taught, extensive professional development you have facilitated, or an evaluation conducted by a supervisor)
• Names and contact information of three references will be required during the application process.