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The College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs at UIC is the University of Illinois System's home for the study of public policy and contemporary urban challenges. We are CUPPA.

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Assistant Professor (1 position), Assistant or Associate Professor (2 positions), The School of Public Affairs (SPA) - CU Denver, CO

The School of Public Affairs (SPA) at CU Denver plans to hire for 3 tenure/tenure-track positions to start in fall 2016. One hire will be at the Assistant Professor level and will focus on advancing theoretical and/or methodological approaches in the study of policy and politics involving the environment and/or natural hazards (an area where we are ranked #10 by US News and World Report). Two hires may either be at the Assistant or Associate level. One of these will be in the area of nonprofit management (where we are ranked #14 by US News and World Report) and the other will be in the areas of local government and/or public management.

Candidates with expertise in more than one of these areas are particularly appreciated. In addition to demonstrating excellent research and teaching in the above areas, candidates with quantitative skills, including the ability to teach methods courses at the PhD level, are sought.

Tenure-track positions at SPA teach a 2:2 load each academic year. SPA has considerable online enrollments, and we expect faculty to teach both face/face and online. Complementing the existing graduate level degrees, SPA will launch a new online BA in Public Service degree in fall 2016 and we are looking for candidates willing to teach at both the graduate and undergraduate levels.

For the Assistant Professor hires, we seek candidates who have completed PhDs, with evidence of excellence in teaching, publishing, and demonstrated efforts at attaining external grant funding.
For the Associate Professor hire, candidates are expected to be a leader in their field, with an excellent record in research, demonstrated through both externally funded awards and publications, as well as excellence in teaching, mentoring, and funding graduate and/or undergraduate students.

SPA is a NASPAA-accredited MPA program ranked nationally at #29 by US News and World Report. With 25 full-time faculty, we also offer a PhD in Public Affairs, a Masters in Criminal Justice, a Bachelors in Criminal Justice, and will soon launch the fully online BA in Public Service. All programs except the PhD are available fully online.

SPA and CU Denver are located in the downtown area of one of the fastest growing cities in America. Our city and state are microcosms for research and teaching in environmental policy, local government, nonprofits, emergency management, public health, and public finance. Our faculty have grown their external funding by 200% over the past 5 years. Faculty currently have grants from NSF, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, Ford Foundation, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Robert Wood Johnson, Foundation, Walton Family Foundation, the Colorado Trust, the Colorado Department of Public Health and the Environment, the US Department of Health and Human Services, and the Annie E. Casey Foundation. SPA faculty routinely attend and present at conferences around the world and are often invited to speak to both academic and practitioner communities on their areas of expertise.


Most faculty are involved with SPA’s Buechner Institute for Governance (BIG), the applied arm of the school, either through research, training, evaluation, or service. BIG is known as an institute leading the way for translational research, with a focus on evidence-based practices, including but not limited to applied research in Colorado. BIG includes Centers focused on local government, collaborative governance, education policy, criminal justice and policy process research. BIG also runs a Certified Public Management program and several other leadership development programs. We seek candidates who demonstrate interest or experience in contributing to BIG’s mission in some way.

Generally, SPA is seeking candidates who want to contribute to the dynamic efforts among faculty to support and expand our research and impact, as we continue to be recognized as one of the top public affairs schools in the country. Faculty are committed to working collaboratively and in support of making an impact on the field of public affairs and more broadly, the public sector. We are also committed to graduating high quality students who have the best experiences in the classroom, working alongside faculty in research, and making an impact as graduates that employers seek out to hire. We are poised for more growth at SPA and we expect that these three candidates will quickly become part of an energetic effort to produce the best research and teaching in the field.

Our downtown Denver location provides unprecedented access to a diverse urban environment where policy becomes practice. SPA is a diverse learning community and one of the most culturally inclusive schools on campus, allowing our students to interact with people who reflect their own identity and with others who broaden their horizons. More than one-third of SPA students are students of color. CU Denver students come from all 50 states and 67 countries.

The University of Colorado strongly supports the principle pf diversity. We encourage applications from women, ethnic minorities, persons with disabilities and all veterans. The University of Colorado is committed to diversity and equality in education and employment.

Review of applications will continue until the positions are filled with full consideration given to those who apply by October 1, 2015.
To apply, please go to:
Non-Profit Specialization: https://www.jobsatcu.com/postings/106896
Local Govt./Public Management Specialization: https://www.jobsatcu.com/postings/106895 Enviro. and/or Risk Policy Specialization: https://www.jobsatcu.com/postings/106893
Contact information: contact search committee co-chairs Professor Chris Weible (chris.weible@ucdenver.edu) and/or Professor Danielle Varda (Danielle.varda@ucdenver.edu) if you need more information about the academic elements of the positions; and contact Chris Smith (chris.smith@ucdenver.edu) if you need information about application processes and logistics.
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