Asst/Assoc Professor, Theatre Design Tenure-Track

Company Description

WORCESTER STATE UNIVERSITY is a liberal arts and sciences university with a long tradition of academic excellence dating back to 1874, as well as an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer that seeks to reflect the diversity of its community. Our workforce is dedicated to academic quality, student-centered programming, engaged citizenship, open exchanges of ideas, diversity and inclusiveness, and civility and integrity. We are looking for job applicants who share these values and commitment to our students. Worcester State is centrally located in Massachusetts, about an hour’s drive from Boston, Springfield, and Providence, Rhode Island. Our 58-acre campus is nestled in the residential northwest side of Worcester–the second largest city in New England and home to 37,000 college students at more than a dozen colleges and universities. Over 6,000 of those students attend Worcester State–approximately 5,300 are undergraduates and 1,000 are graduate students. Learn more about us at /worcester.edu/about.

The successful candidate will be expected to

• Demonstrate potential for excellence in teaching, scholarly achievement and creative activity, student engagement and advising, and university service.
• Teach undergraduate theatre courses at the lower and upper division level, including set design, lighting design, concepts of theatre design, other design courses, and other topics in theater as needed for the major and General Education curriculum for the university.
• Maintain an active program of academic research and/or creative scholarship.
• Design for the production season for the Visual + Performing Arts Department, including mentoring and supervising student designers and technicians in all design/tech areas;
• collaborate with all production areas and work closely with and coordinate between the technical director and costume shop supervisor.
• Work with finance and budgets in a collegiate system, and coordinate the scenery, prop, and lights budget for the season in collaboration with theatre staff.
• Embrace new forms of critically engaged disciplinary practice/scholarship in the evolving field of theatre design. Foster courses that emphasize a commitment to social
• responsibility, advocacy, and engagement as they relate to the field.
• Demonstrate a commitment to collegiality within and outside the school.
• Supervise undergraduate scenic and/or lighting designs, props projects and technical director for productions annually, including new and devised works.
• Fostering interest among students in all areas of design and technical production.
• Work in harmony with the vision and mission of WSU and Visual + Performing Arts.
• Advise and mentor students in academic and career planning.
• Complete other duties as assigned.

The department is interested in candidates whose experience and qualifications support the university’s mission and ongoing commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Additional Information

This is a full-time, benefited, exempt position. Salary is commensurate with experience and discipline, with a minimum established by the Appendix O of the MSCA contract. The anticipated start date for this position is September 1, 2027. Here at Worcester State University, it is strongly recommended that all employees be vaccinated against COVID-19 before they begin employment.