Position Overview

The School of Social Work and Criminal Justice at the University of Washington Tacoma invites applications for a tenured Social Work faculty position. The successful candidate will be appointed at the rank of Associate Professor or Professor, commensurate with qualifications. This is a full-time, 100% FTE position with a 9-month service period and an expected start date of September 16, 2025.

The successful candidate is expected to perform highly effective and inclusive teaching, using a variety of pedagogical techniques and technologies, and the expected teaching load for this position is six courses per academic year. The successful candidate will develop and maintain an independent, high-impact research portfolio as well as participate in school, campus, institutional, professional, and community-engaged service.

University Background

The University of Washington Tacoma (UWT) is one of three campuses of the University of Washington (UW) and is an urban-serving institution committed to providing a community-engaged education. The UWT campus is located on the ancestral lands of the Puyallup Tribe of Indians within the traditional territories of the Coast Salish people. Established in 1990, our thriving downtown campus serves a diverse student body of a wide range of ages and backgrounds, including an overall undergraduate population consisting over more than 50% first-generation college students. Our approximately 5,000 students, across seven schools, are offered a variety of professional and academic degrees and certifications.

The UWT is a Minority-Serving Institution (MSI) and federally funded Asian American Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institution (AANAPISI). In particular, the Tacoma campus is renowned for its community-engaged activities, wherein many of its faculty, students, and staff are taking an active role in transforming the city and region into a thriving and just collective of communities. The UW is among the 119 institutions of higher education in the U.S. to receive the Carnegie Community Engagement Classification, an elective designation denoting institutional commitment to community engagement.

The UWT faculty has access to the resources of the UW, a major state-flagship research university, while working and teaching within a small campus setting. Consistent with the UWT urban-serving mission, our campus provides a unique environment for faculty to creatively develop their teaching, scholarship, and service portfolios, and to engage with the Tacoma community. UWT’s commitment to diversity and belonging is central to this mission, and to creating an atmosphere where students, staff, faculty, and community members find abundant opportunities for intellectual, personal, and professional growth. For more information about UWT, visit www.tacoma.uw.edu.

School Background

The School of Social Work and Criminal Justice affirms the tradition of promoting social, economic, and racial justice. Our mission is to advance social justice through transformative education and practice, innovative research, and meaningful community engagement as we prepare dynamic and diverse leaders to build a more just and equitable society. We aim to enhance the quality of life for all, with special attention to human diversities, populations at risk, public social services, and the prevention of social problems. As a community of diverse scholars, we advance the social work and criminal justice professions through our preparation of graduates for ethical, culturally responsive, and evidence-based, anti-racist practices and scholarship that advances the knowledge base of both professions. The faculty at UW Tacoma value relationships with students and each other. We are committed to fostering the success of our students and faculty, upholding excellence in teaching in the classroom and online, and serving the greater Tacoma community through publicly engaged scholarship.

The School of Social Work and Criminal Justice (SSWCJ) offers three degrees. The Bachelor of Arts in Social Welfare (BASW) degree prepares students to acquire competence in ethical, culturally responsive social work practice. Our BASW degree centers equity and a commitment to effective advocacy and empowerment of historically marginalized, economically disadvantaged, and underserved populations. The BASW program has an enrollment of approximately 80 – 90 students. The Master in Social Work (MSW) degree recognizes the importance of synergy between knowledge acquisition and action to develop student competencies in preparation for advanced practice. Our MSW curriculum provides generative and tailored learning for students to develop deep expertise in their interests and passions. Students assume advocacy and leadership opportunities in an array of cross-disciplinary public and private sectors and may choose specialized learning in pursuit of school social work, behavioral health, and child welfare careers. The MSW program has 100 – 120 part-time evening students, inclusive of approximately 30 part-time Advanced Standing students. The campus and online Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice (BACJ) degree prepares students to engage with systems through a theoretical understanding using ecological systems and evaluative approaches to crime and justice. Our unique multidisciplinary Criminal Justice curriculum adopts a social justice lens that prioritizes diversity in populations and thought, progressive approaches to crime and justice, and differential impacts of crime on individuals and communities across social identities and locations. The BACJ average enrollment is 90 – 110 students.

 Responsibilities

All faculty at the University of Washington engage in teaching, scholarship, and service within their school, the University, and their professional communities. The UWT and SSWCJ are committed to hiring and supporting faculty who will enhance diversity, inclusion, and equal opportunity in higher education through their teaching, scholarship, and service activities. Faculty at UWT are expected to teach in multiple modalities, including in-person, online, and hybrid courses. Faculty are expected to successfully mentor undergraduate and graduate students in an academic setting with diverse experiences and backgrounds. In addition to independent scholarly research, the successful candidate will have opportunities to collaborate on innovative community-engaged, multi-disciplinary, and/or interdisciplinary scholarly research activities. School, campus, institutional, professional, and community-engaged service is expected. For more information about community partnership opportunities, visit https://www.tacoma.uw.edu/community-partnerships.

Positive factors for consideration include, but are not limited to:

• Instructional experience in undergraduate and graduate social work generalist practice education.
• Instructional expertise in clinical practice, generalist practice, policy, and/or research courses.
• Experience working with a diverse student body.
• Demonstrated experience in multiple modalities, including in-person and hybrid or online.
• Active and robust scholarship that emphasizes social justice and anti-oppressive frameworks that focuses on diverse individuals, communities, and populations.
• Community-engaged research that centers lived experiences of individuals, communities, and populations.
• Commitment to multi-disciplinary and/or interdisciplinary engagement.
• Experience working effectively with diverse individuals, communities, and populations.
• Five or more years post MSW micro, mezzo, and/or macro practice experience.

Compensation and Benefits

The base salary range for this position is $10,444 to $12,278 per month ($94,000 to $110,502 per 9- month academic year). Salary is commensurate with rank, experience and qualifications, or as mandated by a U.S. Department of Labor prevailing wage determination. Other compensation associated with this position may include a one-time relocation allowance, if applicable, and professional/research funds. A summary of benefits associate with this title/rank can be found at https://hr.uw.edu/benefits/benefits-orientation/benefit-summary-pdfs/.