Open Rank Associate Professor/Professor of Native American and Indigenous Studies/Department Chair

Job Summary:

The Ethnic Studies Department has an opening for a full time Department Chair at the rank of Associate Professor or Professor specializing in Native American and Indigenous Studies to begin August 1, 2025.

The Ethnic Studies Department empowers students to transform society and participate in real-world problem-solving through a vibrant engagement with the intersectional histories and contributions of Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color (BIPOC). We are committed to the comparative, critical, and transnational study of race, ethnicity, and Indigeneity, especially as those formations intersect with others including gender, sexuality, class, religion, nation, and dis/ability. The curriculum currently includes courses in Native American and Indigenous Studies such as American Indian Cultural Images and History of the American Indian. The Department also offers a certificate in American Indian Studies. The College of Liberal Arts & Sciences also houses the Fourth World Center for the Study of Indigenous Law and Politics.

We seek an Associate or full Professor to serve as chair of the Ethnic Studies Department and who is a Native American and Indigenous Studies scholar who can situate Indigenous resurgence, native sovereignty, land rights, and/or settler colonialism in different geographic and national contexts. We especially welcome additional expertise in the following fields to help us expand our course offerings based on our students' interests: arts and artivism, disability studies, environmental racism and/or climate injustice, food ways, health disparities/public health, Indigenous Pacifics/Oceania, history of science.

This position comes with responsibilities in teaching (40% of time), research (40% of time), and service (20% of time). The teaching load is 2/2 (four courses an academic year), at both the undergraduate and graduate level.

The Department Chair serves as the leader and administrator of a department. Responsibilities and appointment procedures are outlined in the individual department bylaws. All chair appointments must follow the appropriate department procedures outlined in the bylaws. The Department Chair is granted two course releases during the academic year in addition to 1.5 months of summer salary for their chair responsibilities.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide leadership toward the achievement of the highest possible level of excellence in teaching, scholarly/creative work, and leadership and service activities of the department.
• Represent departmental views on matters of educational and research policy and academic ethics.
• Articulate the goals of the department, both within and outside the department, to articulate the department's actions or requests in pursuit of these goals.
• Supervise department faculty and staff in compliance with the appropriate departmental, college, university, and University of Colorado system policies and procedures.
• Ensure that faculty members are aware of the departmental, college, and campus criteria prescribed for appointment, reappointment, promotion, tenure, and post-tenure review, and to make appraisals and recommendations in accordance with the procedures and principles stated in department, school/college, or campus policy and in Regent Policy.
• Ensure that staff members are aware of departmental expectations and of state personnel system criteria for appointment, reappointment, job classification, and promotion.
• Inform the department of the stances and actions of the dean and other administrators that might affect the department.
• Hear questions, complaints, grievances, and suggestions from members of the department, including faculty, staff, and students and take appropriate action.
• Assignment of teaching and other duties within the department consistent with appropriate FTE levels and college/school workload expectations.
• Prepare the budget and administration of the financial affairs of the department, in strict accordance with dollar and FTE allocations and in accord with University rules and procedures.
• Prepare the department's schedule of courses.
• The ideal faculty member will be expected to conduct research and teach courses in Native American and Indigenous Studies and to develop our curriculum in those areas.
• The ideal faculty member will contribute to the university's strategic goal of becoming an equity serving institution.
• This is a full-time tenure track faculty position located at the Denver Campus.

Why Join Us:

The University of Colorado Denver is the state's premier public urban research university and equity-serving institution. Globally connected and locally invested, CU Denver partners with future-focused learners and communities to design accessible, relevant, transformative educational experiences for every stage of life and career. Across seven schools and colleges in the heart of downtown Denver, our leading faculty inspires and works alongside students to solve complex challenges through break through innovations and impactful research, and creative work. As part of the state's largest university system, CU Denver is a major contributor to the Colorado economy, with 2,000 employees and an annual economic impact of $800 million. For more information, visit ucdenver.edu.

The University of Colorado offers a comprehensive benefits package that includes health insurance, life insurance, retirement plans, tuition benefits, ECO pass, paid time off and more. To see what benefits are available, please visit: https://www.cu.edu/employee-services/benefits.

Qualifications:

Minimum Qualifications for Applicants at the Associate Professor Rank:

* Ph.D. in Ethnic Studies, American Indian Studies, Native American Studies, Indigenous Studies, American Studies, Women and Gender Studies, or a related field.

* A proven record of teaching, research and/or creative work, and service commensurate with unit and college-level requirements for appointment at the rank of Associate Professor in the Ethnic Studies Department. The Ethnic Studies department's tenure and promotion criteria can be found at this link: https://clas.ucdenver.edu/ethnic-studies/primary-unit-criteria-tenure-and-promotion

* Experience managing and leading a department, unit, or committees in a higher education institution.

Minimum Qualifications for Applicants at the Professor Rank:

• Ph.D. in Ethnic Studies, American Indian Studies, Native American Studies, Indigenous Studies, American Studies, Women and Gender Studies, or a related field.
• A proven record of teaching, research and/or creative work, and service commensurate with unit and college-level requirements for appointment at the rank of Professor in the Ethnic Studies Department. The Ethnic Studies department's tenure and promotion criteria can be found at this link: https://clas.ucdenver.edu/ethnic-studies/primary-unit-criteria-tenure-and-promotion
• Experience managing and leading a department, unit, or committees in a higher education institution.

Applicants must meet minimum qualifications at the time of hire.

Preferred Qualifications:

• An active, ongoing research agenda.
• Experience teaching diverse undergraduate students.
• Experience teaching online courses.
• Experience working on department, college, and university initiatives.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Ability to communicate effectively with diverse students and colleagues.
• Outstanding student engagement skills, such as evidence of or plans for including students in your research; mentoring students outside of class; requiring out-of-class components in your courses (office hours visits); incorporating inclusive pedagogies; engagement in safe space trainings, etc
• Demonstrated commitment and leadership ability to advance equity, diversity, and inclusion.

Compensation and Benefits

The salary range for Associate Professor has been established at $90,000 to $105,000.

The salary range for Professor has been established at $105,000 to $125,444.

Department Chair is a secondary faculty appointment and is paid a 10% stipend of a faculty member's academic year salary.

The salary of the finalist(s) selected for this role will be based on a variety of factors, including but not limited to, internal equity, experience, education, specialty and training.

The above salary range (or hiring range) represents the University's good faith and reasonable estimate of the range of possible compensation at the time of posting.

This position is not eligible for overtime compensation.

Your total compensation goes beyond the number on your paycheck. The University of Colorado provides generous leave, health plans and retirement contributions that add to your bottom line.

Benefits: https://www.cu.edu/employee-services/benefits

Total Compensation Calculator: http://www.cu.edu/node/153125

Diversity and Equity:

The University will provide reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities throughout the employment application process. To request an accommodation pursuant to the Americans with Disabilities Act, please contact the Human Resources ADA Coordinator at workplaceengagement@ucdenver.edu.

The University of Colorado Denver is committed to recruiting, retaining, and promoting diverse faculty and staff. The university strives to promote a culture of inclusiveness, respect, communication and understanding. We encourage applications from Black, Indigenous, and people of color, women, persons with disabilities, persons within the LGBTQ+ community, and veterans. The University of Colorado is committed to diversity and equity in education and employment.

Please note a search advocate is supporting this search. The search advocate will support the search committee to make sure they are following best practices for ensuring a wide, diverse pool of applicants, that their review practices are equitable and evenly applied, provide guidance during the search, especially as it pertains to recruiting diverse candidates.

Land Acknowledgement:

It is important to recognize and honor that we are on the traditional territories and ancestral homelands of the Cheyenne, Arapaho, and Ute nations in what is now called Denver, Colorado. The confluence of the Platte and Cherry Creek Rivers where the Auraria campus is now located, was the epicenter for numerous activities for over forty-five Indigenous Nations, including the Lakota, Kiowa, Comanche, Apache, Shoshone, Paiute, Zuni, and Hopi, among others. The painful history of genocide and forced removal of Indigenous peoples from this territory demands that we pay respect and give reparations. Indigenous peoples are the original stewards of this land, they still have ties here, and they should be able to thrive here. Wherever we are, however we gather, it is our responsibility to recognize and address our roles in ongoing forms of colonization.

It is also important to acknowledge that the Auraria campus' establishment - and its continued existence today - was only made possible through the forced removal of the Auraria neighborhood's predominately Latinx residents and the demolition of community that those residents created and fought to save. While the Displaced Aurarian Scholarship is one step toward reparations, this history demands that we pay respect and work toward recompense.

Background Check Policy:

The University of Colorado Denver strives to maintain a safe and productive educational, clinical, research and employment environment. All prospective employees and current employees must, therefore, consent to and pass background checks prior to any final appointment/employment..

Vaccination Statement:

As of 7/1/2023, The University of Colorado recommends employees be fully vaccinated from the COVID-19, but is not required. COVID recommendations and information can be found at: https://www.ucdenver.edu/coronavirus