Assistant Professor - Department of Social Work #27-16

Tenure-Track Faculty Position Announcement

CSUN is committed to achieving excellence through teaching, scholarship, learning and inclusion. Our values include a respect for all people, building partnerships with the community and the encouragement of innovation, experimentation, and creativity. CSUN strives to cultivate a community in which a diverse population can learn and work in an atmosphere of civility and respect. CSUN is especially interested in candidates who make contributions to equity and inclusion in the pursuit of excellence for all members of the university community.

As a Hispanic-serving Institution (HSI), inclusiveness and diversity are integral to CSUN’s commitment to excellence in teaching, research, and engagement. As of Fall 2025, CSUN enrolls 36,960 students, where 57.5% are Latinx, 18.4% are White, 8.5% are Asian-American, 5.5% are Black/African American, 0.1% are Native American, and 0.1% are Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander. 

For more information about the University, visit: http://www.csun.edu

• Candidates must have a Master of Social Work degree from a Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) accredited program AND a doctorate degree in Social Work, Social Welfare, or a related field. The doctoral degree must be awarded by the start date. 
• Evidence of, or clear potential for graduate-level social work teaching experience, both in-person and online.
• Evidence of, or clear potential for, excellence in antiracist, anti-oppressive, intersectionality, trauma-informed, collaborative, strengths-based, equity-minded, and student-centered teaching, with particular emphasis on Human Behavior in the Social Environment (HBSE) and across Department of Social Work courses in Micro Practice, Macro/Policy/Advocacy, and Research.
• Evidence of, or clear potential for adopting inclusive approaches to mentoring students from diverse backgrounds on professionalism, academic learning, and/or career development.
• Evidence of, or clear potential for successful scholarly and/or creative development and sustained publication and/or exhibition.
• Evidence of, or clear potential for, effective service across University, College, Department, and Community contexts.
• Evidence of, or clear potential to, engage, build, and sustain professional relationships with a diverse student population in ways that support the Department’s mission.
• Evidence of, or clear potential for developing professional collaborative relationships with colleagues that support the missions of the Department, College, and the University.

• Evidence of, or clear potential for, using culturally informed pedagogy aligned with Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) competencies to promote equitable student learning and success. For more, please visit: https://www.cswe.org/accreditation-resources
• Evidence of, or clear potential for, collaborating effectively with MSW Practicum Education in support of practicum as the signature pedagogy of social work education.
• Evidence of, or clear potential for, developing cross-disciplinary research that addresses gaps in knowledge, structural inequities, or institutional biases affecting diverse urban communities.

In compliance with the Annual Security Report & Fire Safety Report of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act, California State University, Northridge has made crime-reporting statistics available on-line here. Print copies are available by request from the Department of Police Services, the Office for Faculty Affairs, and the Office of Equity and Diversity.

The person holding this position may be considered a 'mandated reporter' under the California Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act and is required to comply with the requirements set forth in CSU Executive Order 1083 as a condition of employment.

A background check (including a criminal records check) must be completed satisfactorily before any candidate can be offered a position with the CSU. Failure to satisfactorily complete the background check may affect the application status of applicants or continued employment of current CSU employees who apply for the position.

In accordance with the California State University (CSU) Out-of-State Employment Policy, the CSU is a state entity whose business operations reside within the State of California and prohibits hiring employees to perform CSU-related work outside of California.

CSUN is an Equal Opportunity Employer and prohibits discrimination based on race, color, ethnicity, religion, national origin, age, gender, gender identity/expression, sexual orientation, genetic information, medical condition, marital status, veteran status, and disability. Our nondiscrimination policy is set forth in the Interim CSU Nondiscrimination Policy. Reasonable accommodations will be provided for applicants with disabilities who self-disclose by contacting Laura Mancia at 818-677- 4638. 

For more information about the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, visit: https://www.csun.edu/social-behavioral-sciences

CSUN’s Department of Social Work recognizes and acknowledges the Sesevitam, the first people of this ancestral and unceded territory of Sesevenga that is now occupied by our institution. We strive to honor their elders, past and present, and the Sesevitam descendants who are citizens of the Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians. We recognize that the Sesevitam are still here and we are committed to lifting up their stories, culture, and community. For more information about the Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians, visit: https://www.tataviam-nsn.us

The Social Work Department acknowledges the countless numbers of Black families who endured the violence, cruelty and barbarity of hundreds of years of enslavement, and whose bodies and labor were exploited to generate massive wealth and economic structural inequalities existing in our world today. Their lives mattered. Black Lives Matter. For more information about reparations, visit: Task Force to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans: https://oag.ca.gov/ab3121/reports

Further, we remember the historical and current generations of activism, resistance, creativity, and resilience of Black and Indigenous people, along with the intersecting struggles for liberation shared by all peoples who have been impacted by hundreds of years of colonialism. We understand their efforts have always been at the forefront of anticolonial movements for liberation and freedom. They have gifted us with their knowledge, courage, hope, strength, and love. We believe it is our responsibility to carry on these traditions of resistance, insistence, and persistence.

Within this spirit of gratitude, the mission of the Department of Social Work is to prepare professional social workers to be anti-oppressive, socially just agents of change by promoting well-being in urban settings. As an advanced generalist program with a focus on urban communities, the Department will teach and create collaborative learning experiences with students. Our Department focuses on urban settings and communities with densely populated areas and a vast array of subcultures. Utilizing a lens that espouses an intersectional, anti-racist, trauma-informed, collaborative perspective, the Department embraces a strengths-based inclusive identity, emphasized by the shared experiences of community, culture, and location. Our Department strives to prepare students to be critically conscious social work leaders who can:

• Demonstrate and apply an intersectionality, power, and privilege lens to address social, political, and systemic change.
• Empower and be relevant to the diverse needs of the multi-national, multi-ethnic, multi-cultural San Fernando Valley and its surrounding communities.
• Advocate for an equitable and socially just society.
• Develop critical consciousness through research, practice, and trauma-informed knowledge, values, and skills.

For more information about the Department of Social Work, see: https://www.csun.edu/social-behavioral-sciences/social-work

The Department of Social Work at California State University, Northridge (CSUN) is seeking a tenure-track faculty member at the rank of Assistant Professor. Specifically, the Department seeks candidates who:

• Hold an interest in Human Behavior in the Social Environment (HBSE), with demonstrated knowledge and practice that supports teaching across micro, mezzo, and macro levels of social work, including the integration of clinical practice, community-based interventions, systems and policy analysis, and research.
• Demonstrate and articulate a commitment to anti-oppressive teaching, scholarship, mentoring, and service consistent with the statements listed above, and sufficient to warrant a tenure-track appointment as an Assistant Professor;
• Can teach through an intersectional lens that uses a critical anti-racist, trauma-informed, collaborative, and strengths-based pedagogical approach;
• Demonstrate the ability to effectively work with and support a diverse student population within CSUN’s context as a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) and a California-designated Black-Serving Institution (BSI), while fostering an inclusive learning environment responsive to the full range of identities, backgrounds, and experiences represented across the University; and
• Has experience in advising, mentoring, course development, and securing external grants.

In addition to teaching, the position requires weekly office hours, attending faculty meetings, participation in assessment of student learning, and service to the department, college, and university. The successful candidate may be required to teach on weekdays, evenings, weekends, and/or online and will be held to the standards and requirements of the college and department in which he/she/they is/are housed for recommending tenure and promotion. Given CSUN’s commitment to excellence in teaching, research, and engagement in a diverse environment, the successful candidate will help the Department achieve equitable academic outcomes for all students through teaching, student mentorship, scholarship, and service.

• →Faculty success at CSUN is measured by three criteria: teaching effectiveness; contributions to one's field of study; and service to the University and Community.
• →The standard teaching assignment is 12 units (4 courses per semester). However, new faculty members in their first two years teach 9 units per semester (3 courses).
• →Successful candidates should be able to teach courses offered by the program, with primary emphasis on Human Behavior in the Social Environment (HBSE), along with the ability to teach Micro Practice, Macro/Policy/Advocacy, and Research courses. A description of Department courses can be found at: https://www.csun.edu/social-behavioral-sciences/social-work/campus-programs.
• →Peer-reviewed publications are important for tenure and promotion, and CSUN faculty members can apply for competitive awards that provide course releases for research or fund travel for research. Presentations at academic conferences are supported with annual travel funds.
• →Tenure-track faculty members participate in shared governance, usually in Department, College, and University committees and other service assignments.
• →Successful candidates must demonstrate collegiality as a core professional responsibility through respectful collaboration, constructive participation in shared governance, effective communication, ethical engagement with colleagues and students, and meaningful contributions to a positive, inclusive, and professionally accountable academic environment consistent with Section 600 standards and the mission of the department and university.
• →In addition to teaching, the position requires weekly student hours, attending faculty meetings, mentoring of diverse student body, and service to the department, college, and university. Lastly, the successful candidate will be held to the standards and requirements of the college and department in which they are housed for recommending tenure and promotion.

• Preferred application deadline is November 2, 2026, and applications received after this date may be considered on an as needed basis. However, the position will remain open until filled.

Candidates should apply by completing the CSUN online application. To apply and for more detailed information on the application and hiring process, please visit this link: www.csun.edu/careers 

• A cover letter of 300 words or fewer, double-spaced, clearly addressing the qualifications and responsibilities described above;
• A curriculum vitae that includes contact information for three professional references; and
• A teaching philosophy statement of 300 words or fewer, double-spaced, addressing how the candidate integrates anti-oppressive, intersectional, antiracist, trauma-informed, collaborative, and strengths-based approaches into their teaching, with attention to how these approaches inform their broader scholarship and service.

In later stages of the search process, applicants may be requested to provide additional materials, including verification of terminal degrees, licenses, and certificates.

At the time of appointment, the successful candidate, if not a U.S. citizen, must have authorization from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to work in the United States. Applicants must be authorized to work for any employer in the United States.

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