Professor & Chair, Department of English (Tenured)

Old Dominion University’s Department of English invites applications for the position of Chair at the rank of Full Professor, to begin in summer of 2023. The area of specialization is open.

We are looking for individuals who will demonstrate that they are able and committed to:

  • Foster cultures of collegiality, cooperation, and collaboration within the department and across campus;
  • Promote curriculum and policy decisions that exemplify diversity, equity, access, and inclusion;
  • Recruit, hire, and retain diverse faculty and students;
  • Streamline, make transparent, and, when appropriate, equitably distribute various departmental duties and processes;
  • Secure full-time faculty lines and prioritize viable working conditions for graduate assistants and part-time faculty members;
  • Encourage faculty in their research and support opportunities for external funding;
  • Manage personnel and department evaluations and resources thoughtfully, purposefully, and transparently;
  • Lead by example by having a consistent presence on campus and being an innovative, dynamic educator, productive scholar, and active department citizen with respect to work/life balance.

Minimum qualifications:

  1. Significant experience as chair or comparable leadership experience within English programs
  2. PhD in English, Literary Studies, Rhetoric and Composition, Creative Writing, Technical Communication, English Education, or related field. Candidates with MFAs in Creative Writing or ED.Ds in English Education and a significant body of scholarship and experience will also be considered.
  3. Demonstrated record of success as an administrator, scholar, and teacher that includes concrete examples of a commitment to diversity, equity, access, and inclusion in these three areas.

Preferred qualifications:

Preference will be given to candidates with expertise and experience: 

  • Mentoring and teaching PhD students in English, including service on thesis and dissertation committees; 
  • Teaching online courses and moderating online meetings;
  • Supporting faculty and students at all levels and ranks including familiarity with issues of labor equity.

Department of English

The Department of English is an interdisciplinary department of over fifty full-time faculty, equally divided between tenure and non-tenure track positions and an even larger complement of affiliate faculty, across six concentration areas. With strong graduate programs, especially our hybrid PhD program and our residential MFA in Creative Writing, a robust general education program that serves approximately 9,000 undergraduates a year, and a healthy undergraduate degree with online and on-campus course offerings, we are looking for a leader who can work collaboratively with department faculty and university stakeholders to facilitate innovative and sustainable growth to move our programs, faculty, and scholarship forward.

Old Dominion University:

Old Dominion University is a residential and high-research-activity (R1) public institution with a student enrollment of 24,000 (including nearly 5,000 graduate students); 38% of students come from underrepresented ethnic groups and 28% of faculty are from minority groups. Our students represent all 50 U.S. states, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the United States Virgin Islands, and 99 home countries. ODU is a national leader in supporting social mobility in higher education, helping underrepresented students succeed, and serving the community: among the top 10% of U.S. colleges and universities in the 2019 Social Mobility Index (CollegeNET), the top 15% in the nation for overall diversity (College Factual), the top 10 in the country and top 50 in the world for reducing inequality (Times Higher Education), and a 2020 Carnegie Foundation Community Engagement classification recipient. Old Dominion University is located in the City of Norfolk in the metropolitan Hampton Roads region of coastal Virginia.

How to Apply:

Interested candidates should submit the following documents through the University’s online job application system at https://jobs.odu.edu/postings/17363  

  • Cover letter;
  • Curriculum vitae;
  • A statement of teaching philosophy;
  • A diversity statement;
  • Unofficial graduate transcripts;
  • Contact information for three professional references. 

The committee asks that candidates outline in their cover letters their administrative experience and the core principles that inform their administrative approaches as well as concrete details about which, if any, of the preferred qualifications they meet. The committee hopes to learn from the diversity statement how candidates support the needs of and retain diverse students and faculty as both a teacher and a chair.

Review of applications will begin on November 15, 2022 and continue until the position is filled. Inquiries about the position should be directed to the Search Committee Chair, Dr. Mona Danner (mdanner@odu.edu).

It is the policy of Old Dominion University to provide equal employment, educational and social opportunities for all persons, without regard to race (or traits historically associated with race including hair texture, hair type, and protective hairstyles such as braids, locks, and twists), color, religion, sex or gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), national origin, gender identity or expression, age, veteran status, disability, political affiliation, sexual orientation or genetic information. Minorities, women, veterans, LGBTQ+, and individuals with disabilities are encouraged to apply.


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