Assistant Professor, Biology

San Francisco State University, Department of Biology invites applicants for a tenure-track Assistant Professor position in Health Equity Research beginning August 2022.

We are seeking a colleague conducting research in Health Equity (defined by the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in 2017 as “the state in which everyone has the opportunity to attain full health potential and no one is disadvantaged from achieving this potential because of social position or any other socially defined circumstance”). In this broad search, we welcome biologists using a transdisciplinary approach with the goal of improving health equity. We seek health equity researchers who use a variety of approaches to study human health disparities including microbiology, cell biology, and ecology, or that probe the connections between people, animals, plants, and their environment. Specialization can include a variety of topics and disciplines including but not limited to, urban ecology, climate change, social justice, health disparities, environmental science, epidemiology, traditional ecological knowledge, botany, and genetics as they pertain to One Health:  https://www.cdc.gov/onehealth/. 

The Department of Biology is home to over 1600 undergraduates, 150 master’s students, and 40 tenure/tenure-track faculty. The department is proud of its reputation in actively engaging students from diverse backgrounds in scientific discovery. The SEPAL resource center supports teaching activities, the Health & Equity Research laboratory supports community-engaged, transdisciplinary research within and outside of the department, the Sierra Nevada Field Station (located in the Northern Sierra Nevada foothills) is dedicated to education and research involving biological diversity, the Estuary and Ocean Science Center (located along the bay in Tiburon, CA) enhances public engagement with marine science and focus on environmental problems facing coastal communities, while multiple core facilities, including the Cell & Molecular Imaging Center (CMIC), the Genomics/Transcriptomics Analysis Core (GTAC), the Mass Spectrometry Facility, and the Electron Microscopy Facility are available to support research. Over 100 of our undergraduate and graduate students are supported by several training grants (MARC, RISE, Bridges) housed in the Student Enrichment Opportunities office. Students in our department also benefit from the PINC (Promoting Inclusivity in Computing) and GOLD programs (Graduate Opportunities for Learning Data Science) and SCIP (Science Coding Immersion Program). Additionally, San Francisco State University houses the Health Equity Institute and has partnerships involving the Center for Vulnerable Populations at UC San Francisco, as well as the California Academy of Sciences.

The mission of San Francisco State University is to create and maintain an environment for learning that promotes respect for and appreciation of scholarship, freedom, human diversity, and the cultural mosaic of the City of San Francisco and the Bay Area; to promote excellence in instruction and intellectual accomplishment; and to provide broadly accessible higher education for residents of the region and state, as well as the nation and world. To fulfill its mission, the University is committed to the following goals:

• Attracting, retaining and graduating a highly diverse student body
• Providing disciplinary and interdisciplinary liberal arts and professional education that is academically rigorous and intellectually challenging
• Providing curricula that reflect all dimensions of human diversity, and that encourage critical thinking and a commitment to social justice
• Recruiting, retaining and supporting a diverse faculty whose teaching demonstrates an active engagement with their individual fields of study and whose creative and scholarly work is an extension of the classroom, laboratory or studio
• Employing a staff and administration reflecting the diversity of our student community and the values of the campus;
• Fostering a collegial and cooperative intellectual environment that includes recognition and appreciation of differing viewpoints and promotes academic freedom within the University community; and
• Serving the communities with which its students and faculty are engaged.

Responsibilities
The position requires both graduate and undergraduate teaching in biology. Teaching responsibilities could include co-developing and teaching a lower division General Education course on the health inequities involving climate change or introduction to community-based research, and participating in existing high enrollment courses. Possible high enrollment courses can include Introductory Biology (Biol 230, Biol 240), Evolution (Bio 337), Genetics (Biol 355) and Health Disparities in Cancer – or other Health Equity topics (Biol 332). Teaching responsibilities could also involve graduate seminars/courses related to the one’s expertise. In addition, the successful candidate will be required to mentor and advise undergraduate and master’s level students, to develop an active externally-funded research program in one’s area of expertise, and to participate in committee and service assignments. A detailed position description is available at http://biology.sfsu.edu

Qualifications
Required:

• Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree and post-doctoral experience in a biology or biology-related field are required.
• Record of working and communicating effectively with colleagues and students

Preferred:

• Demonstrated ability to teach courses in the areas of Introductory Biology, and a disciplinary specialty. Candidates should also be prepared to teach courses within their area of expertise.
• Experience in teaching and mentoring of PEERs (Persons Excluded because of their Ethnicity or Race) students in STEM, because San Francisco State University has one of the most diverse student bodies in the U.S.
• Demonstrated active record of research related to their specialty area and evidence of external support or the potential for external funding of these activities.
• Demonstrated record of how they have already incorporated (or will incorporate) inclusion, diversity, and social justice education in their courses and scholarship/creative works.
• Candidates should demonstrate experience teaching and working closely with students from historically under-represented communities
• Candidates should demonstrate a record of contributing to supportive and collaborative work environments

Rank and salary
Assistant Professor. Salary commensurate with qualifications and experience. The California State University (CSU) provides generous health, retirement and other benefits.

Application Procedure
A complete online application must be submitted to receive consideration. To apply, please go https://careers.pageuppeople.com/873/sf/en-us/job/504822/assistant-professor-biology to begin the application process and upload the following materials:

1) a letter of intent (relating your experience to the required qualifications)

2) a current CV (please feel free to address the impact of COVID-19 on your productivity),

3) statement of teaching philosophy (1 – 3 pages),

4) a research statement (up to 4 pages),

5) a statement of anti-racism, inclusion and diversity (A statement of anti-racism, inclusion and diversity that is a 1 - 3 pages that provides an understanding of your capabilities to address diversity in support of SF State’s diverse student and community populations. The statement should describe plans for creating an affirming and anti-racist environment for all students. Please discuss how you have addressed anti-racism, inclusion and diversity in your teaching, research, and service), and

6) names and contact information of three references who will provide letters of recommendation upon request.

Submit all materials online to PageUp by October 15, 2021. Review of applications will start on October 15, 2021, and will continue until the position is filled.

Please direct all questions about the position to: the chair of the Health Equity Search Committee, Dr. Sally Pasion, pasion@sfsu.edu

San Francisco State University is a member of the CSU system and serves a diverse student body of 27,000 undergraduate and graduate students. The University seeks to promote appreciation of scholarship, freedom and, human diversity through excellence in instruction and intellectual accomplishment. San Francisco State University faculty are expected to be effective teachers and demonstrate professional achievement and growth through research, scholarship, and/or creative work. Our goal is to attract a world-class and diverse faculty committed to building an equitable and inclusive educational environment.

San Francisco State is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer and does not discriminate against persons on the basis of race, religion, color, ancestry, age, disability, genetic information, gender, gender identity, gender expression, marital status, medical condition, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, covered veteran status, or any other protected status. We strongly encourage the application of individuals from historically underrepresented groups. Reasonable accommodations will be provided for qualified applicants with disabilities who self-disclose by contacting the Senior Human Resources Manager. Additional information on the requirements for new hires may be found at the Human Resources web page (https://hr.sfsu.edu/you-start)