Assistant or Associate Professor, Health Communication (tenure track)

Summary: The James L. Knight School of Communication at Queens University of Charlotte invites applications for a tenure-track position at the rank of Assistant or Associate Professor in Health Communication beginning August 15, 2025.

We are looking for a colleague with a teaching and research agenda in health communication and a focus on issues of diversity and equity in healthcare settings. An interest in collaborating with the Charlotte area healthcare industry and in creating connections to healthcare organizations in the region is desirable, as well as an interest in collaborating with Center for Digital Equity’s digital health literacy initiatives.

The Knight School of Communication develops students into creative communicators who become engaged citizens and leaders in the communities they serve. Alumni thrive in media industries, digital journalism, health-related sectors, sports enterprise, public and community relations, corporate communication, law, human resources, government, and education. Our majors are encouraged to apply their communication knowledge and skills to serve the community in fundamental ways. This includes publication in professional media outlets through the Queens News Service and the Charlotte Journalism Collaborative and participation in our highly acclaimed digital and media literacy initiatives.

In the liberal arts tradition, the BA in Health Communication emphasizes the incorporation of multiple perspectives, both theoretical and applied, into the curriculum. It also emphasizes the importance of understanding and embracing human diversity and ethical behavior. The program is geared toward making a contribution to community health in the Charlotte metropolitan area and the state of North Carolina. The selected candidate should be able to help students develop theoretical and applied skills needed for them to enter a career in the field of health communication, including data analysis and visualization skills.

We expect to hire a candidate who will teach courses in our health communication curriculum and in other areas of our undergraduate curriculum. The ability to contribute to our MA in Communication is desirable.

This position reports to the Dean of the Knight School of Communication. This position is exempt from provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and is not eligible to earn overtime pay or compensatory time off for additional hours worked. This position is not eligible for visa sponsorship.

Experience, Knowledge and Skills Required:

• A terminal degree (PhD or equivalent) in Communication, Journalism, Mass Communication, Cultural Studies, or closely related area, completed by August 15, 2025.
• Evidence of high-quality teaching effectiveness.
• Established program of primary research in the area of health communication.
• Demonstrable commitment to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion for students, faculty, staff, and members of the broader community.
• Experience in creating learning environments that foster a sense of belonging for all students.

Non-Essential Duties:

• Other duties may be assigned as needed to meet department, college, and university goals.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience advising undergraduate and graduate students.
• Experience mentoring undergraduate students in research activities and community engagement.
• Experience with collaboration and outreach to health-related organizations.
• Experience with online teaching and using technology-supported pedagogies.
• Background in data analysis and data visualization.
• Ability to contribute to our MA in Communication.

Application Process
Does this sound like a good fit? Click on the green “I’m interested” button and submit:

1. A cover letter addressing the position qualifications and experience
2. Current CV
3. Contact information for three professional references.
4. A separate statement that provides concrete examples of strategies and practices you use in your teaching, advising, and/or mentoring to reduce barriers and make yourself, your course content, and/or your classroom accessible, equitable, and inclusive for an increasingly diverse student body.

Applications received by December 1, 2024, will receive first consideration. Queens will continue to accept applications until the position is filled.

About Queens University of Charlotte

Located in the heart of the nation’s second fastest growing metropolitan area, Queens University of Charlotte leverages the city’s diverse and thriving environment as an extended classroom. Nationally recognized for undergraduate programs in international and interdisciplinary education, Queens blends the best of liberal arts learning with professional preparation and community engagement. Focused on supporting success for diverse learners, faculty build close and collaborative relationships with students and help them build intentional and individualized roadmaps for flourishing at Queens and beyond. At the graduate program level, the University offers innovative educational experiences that help learners advance professionally and retool for new opportunities. Our environs afford faculty myriad opportunities to advance their own professional growth and teaching and research interests by collaborating with vibrant industry, non-profit, and community organization sectors. 

Because of our history of innovation and our legacy of strong leadership, Queens is positioned to be among the new forerunners of American higher education. This is a defining moment for Queens. While other institutions are focused on sustaining and surviving, we are thinking much bigger. 

Institutions that understand what is needed and are willing to reimagine what is possible can position themselves to thrive and strengthen their market position after the pandemic with innovative approaches that are deeply connected to the world and its greatest challenges. 

By 2030, Queens aspires to become the leading, private, national university of Charlotte with deep, meaningful, and reciprocal connections to the needs of our local community and economy; inventive and multidisciplinary academic programs that are connected to the world’s most pressing challenges and biggest areas of opportunity; a fully connected, integrated, and innovative set of experiences that support holistic wellness and wellbeing; a culture of continuous improvement and investment that enables faculty and staff to flourish and achieve their full potential; and a comprehensive approach to diversity, equity, and inclusion that begins on campus and radiates throughout the community. 

Queens University of Charlotte aims to be a leading comprehensive university, distinguished by its commitment to transforming the lives of its students and enhancing the intellectual and cultural fabric of its community. Queens is a campus where diversity, equity, and inclusion are core values. The mission of Queens is to provide transformative educational experiences that nurture intellectual curiosity, promote global understanding, encourage ethical living, and prepare individuals for purposeful and fulfilling lives. To this end, the University recruits talented faculty, staff, and students from across the United States and around the world. Queens encourages applications from women, people of color, people with disabilities, and members of other protected classes and historically minoritized communities. The University also invites applications from individuals who are prepared to provide a rich and varied educational experience to our increasingly diverse student body and to collaborate with colleagues to make Queens an equitable and inclusive place to live, learn, and work. 

Queens works to provide an accessible living, learning, and working environment for current and prospective faculty, staff, and students and visitors to our campus. If there are accommodations, we can provide to make your application process more accessible, please contact the Director of Human Resources ([email protected], 704-337-2297). The position duties and responsibilities listed above should be able to be completed with or without reasonable accommodations. HR works in partnership with employees to manage the workplace accommodations process. 

Benefits

Queens offers comprehensive benefits to eligible employees, including: medical, dental and vision insurance, domestic partner benefits, a 403b retirement plan, with two options (pre-tax or post-tax (Roth) contributions) with a generous match, tuition remission and tuition exchange, Queens-paid life insurance, supplemental life insurance, dependent life insurance, accidental death and dismemberment insurance, disability insurance, flexible spending accounts (medical, dependent care, Health Savings Account), long-term disability leave, paid parental leave, FMLA leave when eligible, reduced cost meals at Morrison Dining Hall, employee assistance program (EAP), free access to the Levine Center, wellness programs. In addition, employees may choose benefits such as pet insurance, critical care insurance and legal assistance.