Calvin University invites applications for a full-time, tenure-track faculty member to join the Program of Public Health, beginning in August 2024. The opening is open rank, but preference will be given to candidates with both educational and professional experience, especially leadership and program development.
REQUIREMENTS
The university seeks applicants with vibrant Christian faith who are dedicated to integration of that faith with their field of study.
Ideal candidates will hold a PhD in Public Health, DrPH or a related discipline such as PhD in social work. Public health related fields of policy, behavioral and/or social implications for health could be given preference.
Candidates are expected to demonstrate excellence in teaching at both the undergraduate and master’s levels, with a commitment to teaching excellence and innovation, active-learning and engagement of students with diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds as well as an active stream of relevant research and publication. Preference will be given to candidates with experience teaching using a variety of methods and instructional technology.
In addition to teaching and scholarship, candidates should be innovative, with demonstrated leadership capabilities necessary to design, build, and lead undergraduate and graduate academic programs that strengthen the university’s student experience and reputation.
Applicants are required to have excellent interpersonal and English communication skills—in the classroom, with colleagues, in written work, and in listening. Experience with course development preferred. Academic administrative experience would be a plus.
The university will prioritize candidates with broad interdisciplinary interests, demonstrated commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, ability to integrate questions of meaning, significance, and ethics into all course content, and deep commitment to engaging students beyond the classroom.
FACULTY RESPONSIBILITIES
Faculty members typically teach 24 semester hours per academic year. Faculty are expected to grow in Reformed Christian commitment, to pursue an active scholarly agenda, to teach effectively, and to serve the university, department, students, and the wider community. Candidates will be asked to affirm their commitment to the educational mission of Calvin University as a Christian liberal arts university in the Reformed tradition, affiliated with the Christian Reformed Church. (See Educating for Shalom and Faculty Expectations.) Calvin University provides numerous faculty development opportunities to foster growth in these commitments.
FACULTY RESOURCES
Calvin University stands at the forefront of Christian scholarship across disciplines. The University hosts a number of Centers and Institutes and provides other funding opportunities to support faculty teaching and research, including sabbaticals, grants, course releases, summer research stipends, travel funds, and student research opportunities.
ABOUT THE PUBLIC HEALTH PROGRAM
With two faculty searches in 2023-2024, we aim to grow the Public Health program, an interdisciplinary program within the newly-formed Calvin University School of Health. The School of Health includes faculty from public health, nursing, social work, psychology, biology, economics, political science, statistics, kinesiology, and philosophy. The program offers a bachelor’s degree in Public Health, and an MPH degree with concentrations in Global Public Health or Infectious Disease.
The mission of our interdisciplinary undergraduate program is to provide a foundation for students interested in a broad range of public health careers, from biostatistics and epidemiology to health education and health policy to global and environmental health. It also prepares students for graduate training in these fields or in related professional health careers such as medicine, nursing, or social work. Our graduate program in Public Health provides skill development in scientific literacy, epidemiology, data interpretation, effective communication, and program implementation and evaluation, as well as numerous internship possibilities effectively preparing students for leadership opportunities. In both programs, students engage in courses taught from a Reformed Christian perspective, addressing today’s most pressing public health issues, including ethics, health inequity, and justice. We are prioritizing plans to ensure that we have faculty with expertise such as policy, behavioral and/or social health, epidemiology, and accreditation which will complement our current faculties’ teaching and research expertise.
ABOUT CALVIN UNIVERSITY
Calvin University is a top-ranked national university that equips students to think deeply, to act justly, and to live wholeheartedly as Christ’s agents of renewal in the world. Approximately 3,000 Calvin students study the liberal arts and select from a broad range of majors and professional programs. The university is located in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in a thriving metropolitan region of approximately one million people situated equidistant from Chicago and Detroit. Furthermore, the West Michigan region is ranked by Forbes as the #1 place to raise a family. For more information, please visit http://www.calvin.edu/go/facultyopenings.
Calvin is building a tradition of diversity and accessibility and welcomes applications from persons whose personal characteristics will further that commitment. Calvin does not discriminate in the employment of individuals on the basis of race, color, national or ethnic origin, disability, sex, or age. Calvin University is an educational agency of the Christian Reformed Church and, in compliance with Title VII and other applicable law, reserves the right to give preference in employment based upon religion.
TO APPLY
Complete the online application process and attach the following:
- Letter of application that addresses the requirements and responsibilities of the position, including your interest in teaching and scholarship at a Reformed Christian University
- Full curriculum vitae
- Statement of teaching philosophy
- Names and contact information of three professional references
Review of applications will begin immediately and will continue until the position is filled. Please feel free to send questions to the undergraduate program director, Julie Yonker (Julie.yonker@calvin.edu).
FAITH and EDUCATIONAL COMMITMENT
1. Commitment to the educational mission of Calvin as a Christian liberal arts university affiliated with the Christian Reformed Church.
2. A commitment to the Christian faith and to the integration of faith, learning, and student development.
DIVERSITY COMMITMENT
Demonstrated awareness and commitment to effectively establishing relationships and positive communication across multiple dimensions of diversity including, but not limited to, race, gender, physical limitations, class, or religious perspectives.
