"Assistant Professor of Higher Education, Fall 2026"

Job Details

Assistant Professor of Higher Education, Fall 2026

Location:

Knoxville, TN

Open Date:

Aug 25, 2025

Description:

The College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences at The University of Tennessee, Knoxville is seeking applicants for a tenure-track assistant professor of higher education to join the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies (ELPS) for a nine-month position beginning August 1, 2026.

Duties and responsibilities include:

• Maintaining a cutting-edge scholarly research agenda, including publishing peer-reviewed journal articles and actively seeking and securing external research funding;
• Supporting graduate programs in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies (particularly the Higher Education Administration Ph.D. and M.S. programs and College Student Personnel M.S. program) through teaching courses related to higher education research and assessment, values and ethics, leadership theory, college students, fiscal policy, legal issues, and/or administration and governance;
• Supporting graduate programs in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies through advising, mentoring, and professional development activities;
• Participating in professional associations at the local, state, regional, and national/international levels;
• Providing service to the department, college, university, and other educational, professional, and public organizations;
• Collaborating with college and department faculty, staff, and students; and
• Having a strong commitment to the mission of the university, college, and department.

The College of Education, Health and Human Sciences is a multidisciplinary unit with 90 tenured/tenure-track faculty members, housed in six departments. Educational Leadership and Policy Studies is a thriving department with more than 200 graduate students and 20 full-time faculty working with programs in K-12 education, higher education, adult and continuing education, and evaluation, statistics, and methodology, and a growing undergraduate minor in leadership studies.

Located near the beautiful Smoky Mountains, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK) was founded in 1794 and is one of the oldest public universities in the country. UTK is a vibrant and diverse urban campus, located in the heart of Knoxville. It is the flagship campus for the UT system, a participating institution of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) and is officially designated as a Research (Very High Research Activity) and Community Engagement University by the Carnegie Foundation. For more information about UTK and Knoxville, please visit: http://www.utk.edu/aboutut/.

Qualifications:

Required qualifications include:

• All candidates must have an earned doctorate (Ph.D. or Ed.D.) in higher education or other related fields that include a focus on elements within higher education and/or higher education administration;
• Strong communication and collaboration skills;
• Potential for high-quality research, publishing, and securing external funding;
• Potential for teaching excellence in graduate level programs;
• Potential for chairing dissertation/thesis committees;
• Demonstrated commitment and ability to effectively engage, collaborate with, and lead colleagues, students, and research teams from all backgrounds and perspectives; and
• A willingness to plan/design, develop, and deliver instruction both in face-to-face classroom formats and via technology and the internet.

Preferred qualifications include:

• Demonstrated expertise in quantitative research methodologies and analysis;
• Experience with distance learning and teaching methodologies;
• Experience teaching courses on higher education research, values and ethics, leadership theory, college students, fiscal policy, legal issues, and/or administration and governance; and
• A successful track record of receiving external funding and publishing in well-regarded academic journals.

Application Instructions:

Application Process

Interested applicants should submit:

• A letter of interest outlining how applicants meet the stated qualifications;
• Curriculum vita;
• Up to three representative publications/writing samples; and
• The contact information for three references.

Application materials must be submitted electronically via the Interfolio portal.

General inquiries can be directed to Dr. Lauren Irwin, search committee chair at lirwin6@utk.edu.

Review of materials will begin on October 15, 2025, and will continue until the position is filled.

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement:

All qualified applicants will receive equal consideration for employment and admission without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sex, pregnancy, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, physical or mental disability, genetic information, veteran status, and parental status, or any other characteristic protected by federal or state law. In accordance with the requirements of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, the University of Tennessee affirmatively states that it does not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, or disability in its education programs and activities, and this policy extends to employment by the university.

Requests for accommodation of a disability should be directed to the ADA Coordinator at Equal Opportunity and Accessibility, 1840 Melrose Avenue, Knoxville, TN 37996-3560, by email to eoa@utk.edu, or by phone at 865-974-2498. Inquiries and charges of violation of Title VI (race, color, and national origin), Title IX (sex), Section 504 (disability), the ADA (disability), the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (age), sexual orientation, or veteran status should be directed to the Office of Investigation and Resolution, 216 Business Incubator Building, E J. Chapman Drive, Knoxville, TN 37996-3560, by email to investigations@utk.edu, or by phone at 865-974-0717.