"Full-Time Faculty Position in Communication Studies: Generalist, School of Liberal Arts and Sciences"

Company Description

The Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), an internationally renowned college of art and design, business and technology, of the State University of New York, invites nominations and applications for a full-time tenure-track faculty position in the English and Communication Studies Department, School of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

The Fashion Institute of Technology, a part of the State University of New York, has been a leader in career education in art, design, business, and technology for nearly 80 years. With a curriculum that provides a singular blend of hands-on, practical experience, classroom study, and a firm grounding in the liberal arts, FIT offers a wide range of outstanding programs that are relevant to today's rapidly changing industries. Internationally renowned, FIT draws on its New York City location to provide a vibrant, creative community in which to learn. The college offers more than 45 majors and grants AAS, BFA, BS, MA, MFA, and MPS degrees, preparing students for professional success and leadership in the global marketplace.

With close ties to industry, FIT draws faculty from the city's art, business, and design elite, and from the rich academic community of the region. The College continually seeks creative faculty members who are passionate about their field and demonstrate exceptional professional capability in the core competencies of instruction design, learning enrichment, globalism, and use of technology, as well as mastery of established and emerging industry practices.

The School of Liberal Arts and Sciences provides the foundation for a FIT degree, and is committed to providing a broad-based general education for FIT students, integrating traditional academic study with career preparation. The School is home to six academic departments, thirty academic minors, and two interdisciplinary majors. Our faculty prepare students to become reflective, critical, and engaged citizens of the world. Committed to scholarship, academic service and student-centered instruction, faculty members foster an understanding of diverse cultures and international perspectives as well as an appreciation for the richness and changing composition of American culture.

The English and Communication Studies Department prepares students to be reflective, creative, critical, and engaged citizens of the world through the study of literature, writing, and communication. Our wide-ranging curriculum provides students with the tools to navigate their environment, to stimulate the imagination, and to communicate across boundaries and borders as they begin to enter the global marketplace.

Job Description

The English and Communication Studies Department seeks a full-time communication studies generalist with secondary area(s) of interest in business communication, public speaking, civil-rights rhetoric, feminist rhetoric, game studies, pop culture, and/or visual rhetoric. The faculty member will be expected to contribute leadership and vision to the Department's communication studies program, to provide intellectual and pedagogical innovation for communication studies courses, to serve as a mentor to current and new communication studies faculty, and to develop interdisciplinary college-wide programming in their areas of expertise. The candidate will be expected to work closely with other Liberal Arts and Sciences departments and have a commitment to working with culturally, linguistically, and academically diverse students in an institution with strong emphasis on innovation, globalism and experiential learning.

At hire, the faculty member will be expected to teach existing courses in the English and Communication Studies Department, such as Fundamentals of Communication, Intercultural Communication, Professional Speech Communication, Small Group Communication, Public Speaking, Argumentation and Persuasion, and Rhetoric in Pop Culture and to develop new curriculum in the candidate's area of expertise. They will also work closely with The Writing and Speaking Studio and other faculty within and outside of the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences to develop curriculum and programming that enable our students to think critically and communicate effectively. The candidate will engage in academic service and conduct research in their area of expertise.

Successful candidates will excel in the following areas:

Globalism

• Demonstrate comprehensive knowledge of writing pedagogy and writing program administration, with the ability to apply this expertise to foster inclusive and effective communication across diverse cultural and linguistic contexts.
• Demonstrate experience communicating with international and global partners using innovative and emerging media, including social media.
• Demonstrate ability to create a dynamic classroom where students can effectively communicate across cultural and linguistic boundaries and balance differing worldviews based upon a deep knowledge and awareness of other people, countries, cultures, and beliefs through the careful study of writing.

Instructional Design

• Demonstrate ability to design and create engaging curricula that take advantage of emerging technologies.
• Demonstrate ability to adapt course materials to adjust to new innovations within and outside of the discipline.
• Experience utilizing a variety of instructional delivery methods and emerging technologies to improve student learning.
• Demonstrate instructional variety and flexibility to accommodate students of different learning styles, abilities, or demographics.
• Demonstrate experience in creating engaging curriculum and classroom environments that will reinforce and further develop advanced skills in critical reading, thinking, presenting, writing, and communication skills.

Learning Enrichment

• Exhibits a strong commitment to lifelong learning and teaching excellence, with the capacity to cultivate curiosity, creativity, and intellectual engagement in diverse student populations.
• Demonstrate the use of innovative pedagogies, emerging technologies and diverse instructional delivery methods that foster critical thinking and creative problem solving.
• Demonstrate the vision to deliver and advance the mission of the English and Communication Studies Department and the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences: to develop reflective, critical and engaged citizens of the world.
• Maintains up-to-date expertise in writing pedagogy, first-year writing, and emerging technologies—including artificial intelligence—as they relate to the teaching and practice of writing.
• Demonstrate interest in developing a wide-ranging curriculum that takes advantage of areas of expertise while contributing to the ECS Department's vision.
• Experience encouraging student interaction, collaboration, teamwork and cooperation in the learning process.

Professionalism

• Demonstrate ability to authoritatively and effectively speak on behalf of the English and Communication Studies Department, the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and FIT.
• Demonstrate ability to help oversee and administer all compositional and professional writing classes in the English and Communication Studies Department.
• Maintain active participation in professional practices and scholarship, and a willingness to mentor faculty both within the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences and across the College. Demonstrate expertise in current critical, theoretical, and pedagogical trends and practices in the field.
• Demonstrate ability to represent FIT with innovative scholarship presented at local, regional, national, and international professional organizations and through peer reviewed publications.
• Demonstrate ability to support FIT's goals and mission of promoting issues of sustainability and pluralism through writing studies.
• Demonstrate the ability to collaborate with colleagues to increase the visibility and profile of literary studies at FIT.
• Maintain positive, helpful, supportive, respectful, collegial, and teamwork-oriented relationships with other professionals.

Technology

• Demonstrate superior level of technical skills relating to software, innovative technology, social and emerging media, especially as they relate to writing instruction and digital literacy.
• Demonstrate ability to utilize innovative instructional technology and to select the most appropriate technologies to enhance student-learning outcomes.
• Demonstrates expertise in leveraging social and emerging media to design dynamic, student-centered instructional methods that enhance engagement and adapt to evolving learning environments.

Requirements

Minimum Qualifications

• Candidates must have a Ph.D. in Communication, Communication Studies, or a closely related field. ABDS will be considered with the understanding that successful defense of the dissertation is required prior to the start of the second semester of employment.
• Must exhibit a record of academic research and publication, professional activities, and successful college-level teaching.
• Familiarity with both online and hybrid learning environments.
• Ability to commit to working with a diverse student population.

Preferred Qualifications

• Research and teaching expertise in Public Speaking, Professional Communication, and Small Group Communication.
• Experience in such subspecialties as Civil Rights rhetoric, gender and communication studies, game studies, intercultural communication, rhetoric, and/or visual rhetoric studies.
• Experience with interdisciplinary and innovative approaches to teaching communication studies.

Additional Information

Please note, all offers of employment are contingent upon successful completion of the background check process.

Salary

The final starting salary and appointment rank will be based on education level and cumulative experience; Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) Salary Schedules pgs. 73-74.

Instructor: $69,346.37 - $80,793.82

Assistant Professor: $80,736.40 - $118,984.88

Associate Professor: $94,498.31 - $142,271.78

Professor: $115,232.32 - $173,403.37

The College reserves the right to select one or more candidates after having been duly reviewed and presented to the President in conformance with the provisions of Article 15 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement.

Benefits

The Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) provides comprehensive employee benefit programs designed to help keep our faculty and staff and their families healthy, safe, happy, and productive. Our programs also include a variety of components to help our employees improve the quality and balance of their work and family lives, and to help them prepare for their futures.

• Retirement Plans
• Health Care Plan and Dental Plan
• Employee Assistance Program
• Flexible Spending Account
• Commuter Benefit Plan
• FIT Tuition Exemption Program
• Qualifying Employer for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program

For a full list of FIT benefits, visit our benefits webpage.

Pay Equity by State Employers

Pursuant to Executive Order 161, no State entity, as defined by the Executive Order, is permitted to ask, or mandate, in any form, that an applicant for employment provide his or her current compensation, or any prior compensation history, until such time as the applicant is extended a conditional offer of employment with compensation. If such information has been requested from you before such time, please contact the Governor's Office of Employee Relations at (518) 474-6988 or via email at info@goer.ny.gov.

Visa Sponsorship

This position may be eligible for visa sponsorship by the Fashion Institute of Technology.

Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Statement

FIT is firmly committed to creating an environment that will attract and retain people from a range of backgrounds. FIT is firmly committed to creating a learning and working environment that encourages, utilizes, respects, and appreciates the full expression of every individual's ability. The FIT community fosters its mission and grows because of its rich, pluralistic experience. FIT is committed to prohibiting discrimination, whether on the basis of race, color, creed, age, national origin, immigration or citizenship status, gender, sexual orientation, disability, marital status, partnership status, caregiver status, sexual and reproductive health decisions, uniformed service, height, weight, any lawful source of income, status as a victim of domestic violence or as a victim of sex offenses or stalking, whether children are, may be or would be residing with a person or conviction or arrest record, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local laws. FIT is committed to providing equal opportunity in employment, including the opportunity for upward mobility for all qualified individuals. Applications from veterans and persons with disabilities are encouraged. Inquiries regarding FIT's non-discrimination policies may be directed to the Chief Equal Employment Opportunity Officer/Title IX Coordinator, 212 217.3360.

Annual Security Report

The safety and well-being of FIT's students, faculty, staff, and visitors is of paramount importance. Pursuant to the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act, FIT publishes an annual report containing crime statistics and statements of security policy, accessible here: Safety Statistics. A paper copy of the report will be provided upon request by contacting Public Safety's administrative office number at (212) 217-4999.

Physical Requirements and Work Environment

The working conditions for this position will be any combination of the classroom, lab, and/or office space. Certain roles may be required to handle machinery and chemicals. The physical requirement for this position will require occasional sitting, constant standing, occasional bending, frequent walking, and occasionally lifting 10 lbs. or less.

Application Instructions

In order to considered for this position, please submit the following documents online:

• Letter of interest clearly indicating your qualifications for the position
• Curriculum Vitae/Resume
• Evidence of teaching effectiveness
• Statement of teaching philosophy
• Sample publication/writing sample
• A minimum of three professional references, including names, titles, addresses, phone numbers, and e-mail contact information.
• A list of three references for recommendation letters; references may be contacted at a later stage.

*Official transcripts are required within the first 30 days of hire. Applicants with foreign degrees must submit a completed credential evaluation comparing their foreign academic accomplishments to standards in the U.S.

This is a full-time, tenure-track position beginning in Fall 2026. Review of applications will commence immediately and continue until the position is filled. First consideration will be given to completed applications received by October 1, 2025.