Open Faculty Position

Seeking applications for Senior Faculty in Augmentative and Alternative Communication

The Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD) is committed to the continuation and growth of the already-strong augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) research, clinic, and outreach programs at Penn State, and is searching for a senior faculty member to contribute to or complement these efforts.

We invite applications for an associate or full-rank tenure-line faculty position. The anticipated start date is negotiable.

Strategic Areas

The CSD Department has a long history of tradition and excellence, and has consistently ranked in the top 10% of the communication sciences and disorders programs in the nation.

The department strives to be leaders in research, education, and community outreach, and to connect globally.  We believe that communication is essential to all aspects of life and is fundamental to health and human development. All individuals have the right to functional communication that promotes their participation in educational, vocational, health-care, community, and social activities, across the lifespan.

Four strategic areas reflect the areas of expertise of the current academic and clinical AAC faculty at Penn State:

1. Ongoing development of approaches and technologies that maximize the ease of interfaces between individuals and AAC technologies;
2. Development of both high- and low-technology means to assess intervention efficacy and effectiveness, across all populations and in particular within low-resource communities;
3. Expansion of implementation sciences, across all areas of AAC but certainly including literacy applications; and,
4. Development of an integrated clinical and outreach approach to incorporating AAC more seamlessly into both clinical service provision and academic instruction and research.

As existing AAC research at Penn State spans the spectrum from basic/foundational science on AAC system design and access, through development and refinement of intervention-oriented research, to implementation science, there is a wide range of opportunities for this new faculty member.

Opportunities for Collaboration

We seek to build on existing strengths in augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) and connections to other departmental areas.

The Pennsylvania State University is a land-grant comprehensive research institution with approximately 44,000 students at the University Park campus. The surrounding community of State College is known for its excellent schools and high quality of life. Penn State values drive our actions and decisions: integrity, respect, responsibility, discovery, excellence, and community.

The College of HHD, comprised of eight separate degree-granting academic units, is committed to the mission of improving human well-being across the life-span through innovative research, teaching, and outreach activities.

Applicants will have the opportunity for interdisciplinary collaboration across the University Park and Hershey Medical Center campuses. 

Selected Centers and Programs at Penn State

• Accessibility in Computing Lab
• Applied Cognitive Science Lab
• Center for Educational Disparities Research
• Center for Health Care and Policy Research
• Center for Human-Computer Interaction
• Center for Language Science
• Center for Science and the Schools
• Center for Socially Responsible Artificial Intelligence
• Center for Healthy Aging
• Child Study Center
• Clinical and Translational Science Institute
• Edna Bennett Pierce Prevention Research Center
• Goodling Institute for Research in Family Literacy
• Huck Institute of the Life Sciences
• Penn State Autism and Developmental Disorders Collaborative
• Rock Ethics Institute
• Social Science Research Institute
  • Child Maltreatment Solutions Network
  • Clearinghouse for Military Family Readiness
  • Computational and Spatial Analysis Core
  • Consortium on Substance Use and Addiction
  • Evidence to Impact Collaborative
  • Federal Statistical Research Data Centers
  • Population Research Institute
  • Quantitative Developmental Systems Methodology Core
  • The Social, Life, and Engineering Sciences Imaging Center (which house a human electrophysiology facility and a 3 Tesla fMRI unit)
  • Survey Research Center

Research Centers and Departments in Selected Penn State Colleges

• College of Health and Human Development
  • Biobehavioral Health
  • Communication Sciences and Disorders
  • Human Development and Family Studies
  • Kinesiology
• College of Education
  • Active Research Projects
• College of Information Sciences and Technology
• College of the Liberal Arts
  • Bioethics
  • Psychology
• Eberly College of Science
• Interdisciplinary Institutes
• Penn State College of Medicine, Department of Neurology

Opportunities for partnerships in community agencies, healthcare facilities, and public schools are also available.

Position Requirements

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

Applicants must demonstrate excellence in research, a strong publication record, interest in collaboration across disciplines, commitment to mentoring students or early career researchers, and a track record of or strong potential for external grant funding, with excellent potential to carry forward such research and funding. Responsibilities of this position include continuing or establishing a fundable line of interdisciplinary research that contributes to or complements existing AAC strengths and others. Responsibilities also include teaching graduate and undergraduate courses, supervising and mentoring student researchers, and providing service to the Department, College, and University. 

Reasonable accommodations (in accordance with ADA requirements) will be made, upon request, to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions.

Qualifications

Earned doctorate; evidence of an active, focused program of research in speech, language, or hearing, or a related field; previous college teaching experience; and be eligible for appointment as a tenured professor at The Pennsylvania State University. American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Certificate of Clinical Competence (CCC) certification is preferred. Significant leadership experience and a demonstrated ability to cross interdisciplinary and interprofessional boundaries is highly desirable.

Application Information

Review of applications and nominations will begin immediately and continue until a suitable candidate is found.

Candidates must apply on-line by going to the PSU Jobs Website.

Candidates should include a cover letter describing interests and qualifications; a curriculum vitae; a statement of experience with and plans to support and contribute to efforts related to equity, justice, and inclusion; and the names, addresses, telephone numbers, and email addresses of three references. References will not be contacted without the consent of the candidate.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

The CSD Department and College of Health and Human Development strongly encourage applicants who would enrich the diversity of our academic community to apply. To learn more about Penn State University's commitment to diversity and inclusion see the University's Statement on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. 

As an institution, we embrace individual uniqueness, foster a culture of inclusion that supports both broad and specific diversity initiatives, leverages the educational and institutional benefits of diversity, and engages all individuals to help them thrive. We value inclusion as a core strength and an essential element of our public service mission.

In HHD enriching the lives of others is our mission. We believe in the power of human capacity for growth and live that mission by meeting challenges, both big and small, with excitement and energy every day. As a part of this, we enthusiastically support both broad and specific diversity initiatives with varied strategies (including via Penn State's offices for Educational Equity and Affirmative Action and HHD's office for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) to maximize the chance that persons with unique abilities, interests, strengths, and needs can thrive at Penn State.

In addition, there are concurrent initiatives at the departmental level to broaden participation of individuals who have been traditionally under-represented in the field of Communication Sciences and Disorders. 

Penn State is an equal opportunity, affirmative action employer, and is committed to providing employment opportunities to minorities, women, veterans, disabled individuals, and other protected groups.
 

For more information

Direct questions to Kathryn Drager, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, CSD Search Committee Chair, Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Education, College of Health and Human Development, University Park, PA 16802-1307, 814-863-2426, or kdd5@psu.edu.

All inquiries will be held in confidence and all applications will be held in confidence until finalists are invited to the University Park campus.