STATUS: Full time
DIVISION: Graduate Studies
REPORTS TO: Dean of Graduate Studies and Research
SUPERVISES: N/A
FLSA STATUS: Exempt
Position Description
The College for Creative Studies (CCS) invites applications for a full-time faculty member to teach User Experience Design and Human-Robot Interaction (HRI). The faculty member will play a key role in reviewing the Graduate User Experience Design curriculum for industry alignment, mentoring graduate students, and expanding industry partnerships. They will also have oversight of teaching interaction design on the College’s new BFA program in Human Centered Design and Robotics .
The Graduate Programs:
The Graduate User Experience Design department offers three degrees: a 2-year MFA (60 credits), a 2-year part-time MA (30 credits), and a fully online 18-month MPS (30 credits). The Faculty Member will teach across these programs, bringing industry expertise in emerging technologies - such as Generative AI, agentic workflows, multimodal interfaces, and physical-digital UX - to prepare students for high-level practice.
Our curriculum fosters cross-disciplinary collaboration across informatics, human-machine interaction, and autonomous mobility. Guided by critical and practical thinking, students design technologically mediated interactions across hardware, software, virtual, and physical realms. With hands-on studio projects at the core, the program welcomes students from backgrounds in art, design, engineering, and social sciences.
The Undergraduate Program:
The BFA in Human-Centered Design and Robotics is a first-of-its-kind undergraduate program that positions design as the lead discipline in the creation of embodied robotic systems. While traditional engineering focuses on mechanics and coding, this program addresses the critical industry gap of social trust, legibility, and human-robot interaction (HRI). By integrating human-centered research, industrial design, behavioral psychology, and real-time interaction, students learn to build coherent systems that advance human-robot interaction (HRI). The program equips students with an interdisciplinary skill set for working with leading hardware, automotive, and autonomous tech companies.
Position Accountabilities and Essential Functions
Teach undergraduate and graduate classes; MFA Thesis supervision
Develop (and teach) new HRI/HMI classes for BFA in Human-Centered Design and Robotics
Review and audit the current graduate UX Design curriculum for industry alignment
Develop and maintain industry partnerships
Mentor students for professional development, portfolio refinement, and upskilling; conduct regular 1-1 office hours
Integrate advanced UX subjects into existing studio modules
Develop industry masterclasses and micro-credentials; workshops, hackathons, design sprints
Contribute to College-wide curricular evolution in the future of design practice and emerging technologies
Qualifications and Experience
Required:
A graduate degree (or Bachelors degree with a significant level of professional experience in User Experience Design and/or HMI/HRI)
Extensive knowledge of new and emerging technologies
Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to work effectively in a team and as a colleague
Preferred:
Terminal degree (MFA or doctorate)
Teaching experience at the college level
Knowledge of instructional design for online teaching and learning
LOCATION:
This position is full-time, based at our campus in Detroit, MI.
WORK ENVIRONMENT: This job operates in a professional office and college campus environment. The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate. The employee is occasionally exposed to outside weather conditions.
PHYSICAL DEMANDS: The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. While performing the duties of this Job, the employee is regularly required to maintain a stationary position, use a computer and other office equipment, and communicate effectively in person, by phone, and virtually. Frequent interaction with others, including staff, faculty, students and third parties is required. The employee may occasionally be required to move files or other objects weighing up to 25 pounds, including from low and high places. The ability to move around within the office and between buildings on campus, attend off-site meetings and events, and travel between Ford Campus site to Taubman Center site are required. CCS will make reasonable accommodations that will allow individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
About CCS
The College for Creative Studies (CCS) is a nonprofit, private college accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and authorized by the Michigan Education Department to grant Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees. CCS, located in midtown Detroit, strives to provide students with the tools needed for successful careers in the dynamic and growing creative industries. CCS fosters students’ resolve to pursue excellence, act ethically, engage their responsibilities as citizens, and learn throughout their lives. With world-class faculty and unsurpassed facilities, students learn to be visual communicators who actively use art and design toward the betterment of society. The College is a major supplier of talent to numerous industries, such as transportation, film and animation, advertising and communications, consumer electronics, athletic apparel, and many more. Its graduates are exhibiting artists and teachers, design problem solvers and innovators, as well as creative leaders in business.
To apply
Applicants are encouraged to apply immediately. The search will close when a suitable candidate is hired. Interested candidates should submit the following in PDF format: Resume and a letter of application should be submitted to: [contact details available in the full listing]
CCS website: http://www.ccsdetroit.edu/
The College for Creative Studies, a leading college of art and design, represents a community composed of individuals with many perspectives, personal experiences, values, identities and worldviews and we value what this brings to our organization. CCS is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We consider applicants for all positions without regard to age, race, color, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, height, weight, gender identity, marital or veteran status, disability or any other legally protected status.
The College for Creative Studies subscribes to the principle of equal opportunity in its employment, admissions and educational practices and strives to provide an environment and workplace free from unlawful harassment or discrimination. We encourage applications from all.
