Faculty Position in Communication Design, School of Art and Design

Job Responsibilities

Forward-thinking, collaborative, technologically advanced graphic and communication designer. Expertise in two dimensional and three-dimensional design with an innovative approach to integration of technology, traditional tools and visual communication. Candidates should have knowledge across contemporary approaches, concepts, techniques, and issues as they pertain to the range of practices that are associated with, identity design, motion graphics, typeface design, visual language, digital design, and spatial design.

Successful candidates will excel in the following areas:

Globalism

The new full-time line must have an international world view including exploring best practices and other systems from around the world. In particular focusing on expanding on the best practices embodied in our heavily international student body.

• Possess an ability to think globally and demonstrate an awareness of the impact of graphic design education, industry, and the profession.
• Communicate and convey to students the ethical implications of design decisions affecting the global environment and people.
• Demonstrate an understanding of the implications of graphic design in the context of broader social, cultural, economic, scientific, and technological forces.
• Possess experience working with people from various cultural, racial, ethnic, religious and social groups that will support the education of a diverse student population.
• Demonstrate appreciation for cultural diversity and a positive approach to cultural differences.
• Engage in global cross-disciplinary discourse in the discipline of graphic design.

Instructional Design

The new full-time professor must have experience in codifying technological and learning innovation in the classroom into curricular advancement throughout the lower and upper division and collaborate with the CD staff in identifying and advancing best practices.

• Demonstrate ability to utilize technology and electronic information to deliver course materials to students.
• Utilize instructional variety in order to accommodate students of different learning styles, abilities, demographics, or diversity.
• Demonstrate ability to cultivate and foster critical thinking, problem-solving, information literacy, and creativity.
• Demonstrate implementation of instructional methodologies and practical applications that enrich students’ learning experience through innovative pedagogies, research, and/or creative scholarship.
• Demonstrate execution of socially responsible and sustainable design projects that instruct and inspire a diverse student population.
• Demonstrate experience in developing or teaching a curriculum that addresses diversity in design.

Learning Enrichment

The new full-time professor must have experience in student enrichment, particularly through methodologies for education across a wide range of technology, research and process disciplines of the program.

• Embrace the role of faculty as facilitators, mentors, and integrators of information and knowledge.
• Possess a passion for learning with the ability to inspire interest, curiosity, and creativity in students.
• Demonstrate responsiveness to industry changes and/or practices, including technology, and the ability to incorporate evolving changes in a progressive curriculum.

Professionalism

The new full-time line will be expected to be an accomplished designer in the diverse field of communication design. The designer should be working professionally and academically in an area of communication design that requires expansive experimentation and capabilities. Areas like interaction design, spatial design, and 360 design projects would provide that approach.

• Demonstrate continued engagement in creative and/or scholarly work in the discipline of fine arts, graphic design or spatial design.
• Understand established and emerging graphic design practices and convey their importance to students.
• Demonstrate the ability to organize and lead initiatives for the department and the College.
• Demonstrate professional projects that illustrate a varied and innovative design portfolio of evidence-based projects.
• Demonstrate research ability, knowledge of, and engagement with industry competitions, exhibitions, publications, awards and/or other creative achievements.

Technology

The new full-time line should understand current two- and three-dimensional software employed in the graphic and experiential design fields. These include expertise in recurring software tools, led by Adobe Creative Suite, and material-oriented tools that can link the digital and physical realms. The professor should also be capable of research into new software and hardware tools that students can further explore and integrate into the program.

• Demonstrate technological skills relating to software and hardware widely used in the graphic design profession.
• Demonstrate knowledge of additional software design tools including dimensional modeling, animation and tools that connect the digital and physical realms.
• Demonstrate a commitment to maintain currency in technological skills and knowledge.

The preceding description is not designed to be a complete list of all duties and responsibilities required of the position; other duties may be assigned consistent with the classification of the position.

Requirements

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s of Fine Arts required in a design program including graphic design, fine arts, industrial design, architecture or digital design.
• A minimum of seven (7) years of academic and/or professional experience.
• Extensive knowledge of Adobe Creative Suite including the interrelationship of suite software in the design process.
• Working interest in the interplay between hand and digital skills both two and three dimensionally.
• Knowledge of how typography, iconography, color and information interact in different mediums.
• Knowledge of storytelling methodologies including process documentation, storyboarding and visual language.
• Practical and theoretical knowledge of different communication design mediums such as environmental graphics, user interface design and packaging design.
• Knowledge of animation software methodologies as part of the design process.
• Ability to combine design with communication with multiple media channels including print, digital interface and social media.
• Demonstrates a commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and student success, as well as working with broadly diverse communities.
• Excellent communication skills, including writing and presentation development.
• Can build relationships, communicate adesign rationale and work with faculty, students and industry stakeholders.
• Ability to advance design curriculum that supports the integration of technical and design skills.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Master’s of Fine Arts degree preferred or a doctoral degree in graphic design or a closely related discipline.
• A minimum of ten (10) years of professional and academic experience serving as a faculty member.
• Prior teaching experience with curriculum development and/or experience teaching new design courses

Salary

$65K – $163K/yr (Employer est.)

$114K/yr Median

Benefits

The Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) provides comprehensive employee benefit programs designed to help keep our faculty and staff and their families healthy, safe, happy, and productive. Our programs also include various components to help our employees improve the quality and balance of their work and family lives and prepare for their futures.

• Retirement Plans
• Health Care Plan and Dental Plan
• Employee Assistance Program
• Flexible Spending Account
• Commuter Benefit Plan
• FIT Tuition Exemption Program
• Qualifying Employer for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program