The University of Chicago Crown School of Social Work, Policy and Practice (Crown Family School) invites applications for a tenure-track, early career, Assistant Professor whose scholarship advances direct social work practice. Successful applicants will be engaged in scholarship that is theoretically and empirically driven, innovative, methodologically rigorous, critically attentive to the structures of power, oppression and inequality, and has implications for improving social work practice.

The successful applicant’s scholarly agenda may encompass research questions involving transforming direct practice, improving service access and quality, clinical processes, community-engaged and participatory research, intervention research, prevention science, and implementation science. Findings from this research may be applicable to or across fields of practice such as health, mental health, disability justice, substance use, homelessness, school social work, gerontology, refugee and immigration services, or global health. The successful applicant’s scholarly agenda should be relevant to groups who experience exclusion, discrimination, or stigma, and/or have the potential to address inequities across demographic groups.

Successful applicants should have the potential for securing future funding that matches the candidate’s substantive research agenda. Teaching and mentoring is expected at all levels, but primarily at the masters and doctoral levels.

Successful candidates will be appointed at the rank of Assistant Professor. Successful candidates at an early career stage may be offered the option of accepting an initial two-year appointment as Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellow, a tenure-track faculty position at the rank of Instructor. This initial period is intended to serve in lieu of a traditional postdoctoral appointment and is designed to support early-career scholars as they prepare for a review for promotion to Assistant Professor at the end of their two-year term. Candidates who are offered the option of appointment as Postdoctoral Fellow and accept will teach a reduced course load and join a cohort of Fellows to participate in programming designed to support their entry into the professorial ranks. The anticipated start date is July 1, 2024, or after.

The Crown Family School builds upon a legacy of more than a century of scholarship, education and leadership in social work and social welfare, blending a distinctive interdisciplinary tradition with applied problem solving to foster innovative solutions to some of society’s most pressing social problems. For more information about the Crown School, please visit our website at: https://crownschool.uchicago.edu/ .

Applicants must possess a doctorate (or have a doctorate by the date of appointment) in social work or a related field that specializes in clinical/helping processes, as well as an MSW with two years of post-MSW practice experience or equivalent direct practice experience for non-social work fields. Successful candidates also will have an interest in and ability to teach direct practice courses. 

Candidates should submit a cover letter, a Curriculum Vitae, a statement that outlines research and teaching interests, and two writing samples that best represent the applicant’s approach; applicants at the dissertation stage must include part or all of their dissertation as one writing sample. Contact information for at least three references must also be included; references will be contacted to request a letter of reference after an initial review of submitted materials and candidates will be notified prior to contact. 

Consideration of applications will begin on October 9, 2023 and will continue until the position is filled or the search is closed; early submission is encouraged.

Please apply online at the Academic Recruitment web page at the University of Chicago website using the following link: http://apply.interfolio.com/131536

All University departments and institutes are charged with building a faculty from a diversity of backgrounds and with diverse viewpoints; with cultivating an inclusive community that values freedom of expression; and with welcoming and supporting all their members.

We seek a diverse pool of applicants who wish to join an academic community that places the highest value on rigorous inquiry and encourages diverse perspectives, experiences, groups of individuals, and ideas to inform and stimulate intellectual challenge, engagement, and exchange. The University’s Statements on Diversity are at https://provost.uchicago.edu/statements-diversity .

The University of Chicago is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity/Disabled/Veterans Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, national or ethnic origin, age, status as an individual with a disability, military or veteran status, genetic information, or other protected classes under the law. For additional information please see the University's Notice of Nondiscrimination .

Job seekers in need of a reasonable accommodation to complete the application process should call 773-834-3988 or email equalopportunity@uchicago.edu with their request.