Job Details

The School of Social Work and Human Service (Faculty of Education and Social Work) at Thompson Rivers University invites applications for two Assistant or Associate Professors for tenure track/ tenured appointments to commence July 1, 2024. These positions are designated for social work scholars who identify as Black or Indigenous. 

The tenure track/tenured tripartite positions include teaching, research, and service responsibilities. The successful candidates will have proven experience in Black and/or Indigenous social work, anti-racism, and decolonizing teaching practices in social work education. The successful candidates will teach in the BSW program at the Kamloops campus, while engaging a developing research agenda, and making service contributions to their profession, school, institution, and community. Candidates with research and teaching experience in all areas of social work with a demonstrated pedagogical foundation relevant to ensuring social work course content contributes to reconciliation, decolonization, anti-oppression, and anti-racist social work education are welcome to apply. Research areas of particular interest within the school include: Black social work, Africentric practice, anti-racist practice, mental health and substance use, diverse and Francophone populations, Indigenous people, and racialization and immigration policy. The successful candidate will be committed to following CASWE-ACFTS accreditation guidelines and the CASW Code of Ethics. 

THE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK AND HUMAN SERVICE at TRU
The School of Social Work and Human Service offers a wide range of academic programs to approximately 250 students on two campuses and more than 100 students through Open Learning. Programs include: Bachelor of Social Work Degree, the Human Service Diploma and Education Assistant and Community Support Certificate (offered at both the Kamloops and Williams Lake campuses), the Social Service Worker Certificate (offered through Open Learning), and the Human Service Diploma (offered through Open Learning). A post baccalaureate certificate and Master of Social Work degree are in the School’s future plans. 
The Bachelor of Social Work program builds on over 30 years of offering professional social work education in Canada. The program prepares sought-after, competent practitioners to provide service and leadership within regional, national, and global contexts to achieve social justice, respect for diversity, and social change. Our graduates work in collaborative and anti-oppressive ways across a full range of service and professional positions to promote positive progression towards social change.
The program is committed to learner-centred education that identifies and eradicates barriers that prevent people from reaching their full potential. Indigenous perspectives are integrated throughout the curriculum and within two required Indigenous and Decolonizing practice courses. Additionally required courses include Social Work Practice with Diverse Populations and Race, racialization, and immigration policy. 
The Social Work program at TRU is committed to redress the legacy of residential schools and to advance the Calls to Action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada and the Calls for Justice from the National Inquiry on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (NIMMIWG).

ABOUT THOMPSON RIVERS UNIVERSITY
Thompson Rivers University (TRU) campuses are on the traditional lands of the Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc (Kamloops campus) and the T’exelc (Williams Lake campus) within Secwépemc'ulucw, the traditional and unceded territory of the Secwépemc people. Our region also extends into the territories of the Stat’imc, Nlaka’pamux, Nuxalk, Tsilh’qotin, Dakelh, and Métis peoples. 
For over 50 years Thompson Rivers University has taken pride in providing an excellent education to students with a variety of backgrounds and perspectives who are at various stages of their learning journey. TRU strives to become the University of Choice for B.C.'s Indigenous students. Offering both on-campus, regional and online programs, TRU attracts a significant Indigenous student body as well as students and faculty from across Canada and internationally. In Kamloops (from the Secwepemc word for this area: Tk'emlups “meeting of the waters”), the main campus overlooks the junction of the North and South Thompson Rivers, from which the university gets its name.
TRU is a comprehensive, learner-centered, environmentally responsible institution that serves its regional, national, and international learners and their communities through high quality and flexible education, training, research and scholarship. From traditional academics to trades, from certificates to graduate degrees, TRU offers students choice from over 140 on-campus programs and 50 Open Learning programs. More than 28,500 students study on campuses in Kamloops and Williams Lake, or in distance or online courses and programs through Open Learning. Research, creation and innovation thrive in TRU’s open, flexible learning environment. TRU gained Platinum and the highest over-all sustainability score in the prestigious and globally recognized AASHE STARS report. 

TRU is the 4th largest university in British Columbia, is a member of the Research Universities Council of British Columbia, and has its main campus situated in beautiful Kamloops. The Kamloops campus is a midsize, modern, comprehensive and stunning campus. Kamloops is a vibrant city of 100,000 located within just three hours’ driving distance from Vancouver or 45 minutes by air. Kamloops offers wonderful beauty, weather, amenities, culture, friendliness, and affordability.
 

These tenure track/ tenured positions are designated for social work scholars who identify as Black or Indigenous. 

Education:
•    The minimum academic qualification is an earned PhD or Doctorate with a focus relevant to social work, accompanied by a Master’s degree in social work. However, a candidate that is near completion of a PhD or Doctorate, or one who has accumulated experience judged to be particularly relevant and valuable to the discipline with a commitment to complete a PhD/EdD may be appointed with a Master’s degree in social work. 
 

Experience:
•    Demonstrated experience in integrating Indigenous knowledge and teaching methods in ways appropriate to your social location (TRC CA 62).
•    Proven skills in building student capacity for intercultural understanding, empathy, and mutual respect (TRC CA 63).
•    Experience developing culturally appropriate curricula (TRC CA 10).
•    Demonstrated ability to commit to creating time and space for relationships based on respect as human beings, supporting and embracing differences with kindness, love, and respect (NIMMIWG, 15.7).
•    Demonstrated emerging record of research accomplishments preferred. 
•    A minimum of 2 years (full-time equivalent) post-secondary education instructional experience required.
•    Evidence of teaching from a pedagogical foundation of anti-oppressive and decolonizing education preferred.
•    Experience educating social work students in the role that front-line workers play in redressing the legacy of residential schools and advancing the Canadian Reconciliation process preferred.
•    A proven record demonstrating a minimum of 5 years full-time equivalent social work practice experience preferred.
•    Familiarity with the CASWE-ACFTS 2021 Educational Policies and Accreditation Standards for Social Work Education and the CASWE-ACFTS 2017 Statement of Complicity and Commitment to Change.  

Acknowledging the diversity of the School's student population and constituencies in the interior of British Columbia, the School seeks to increase the representativeness of its faculty. Thompson Rivers University is committed to the principle of employment equity and in accordance with Section 42(3) of the BC Human Rights Code, priority for this position will be given to Indigenous people and visible minority applicants.