.Assistant Professor of College Success.

Position Summary

Current Pierce College Tenured and Permanent Status Faculty Priority Deadline is 1 week before the posted closing date. For more details, please see:

***2 vacancies: 1 at the Fort Steilacoom Campus and 1 at the Puyallup Campus***

Join our Racial Equity-Centered College!
Pierce College District is student-centered and mission-driven to ensure that all our students thrive and reach their fullest potential. As an institution committed to antiracism, we are action-oriented and intentional in dismantling every systemic barrier that prevents Black and Brown student excellence and liberation.

As Pierce College deepens its commitment to racial equity, it is of the highest priority that we focus our tenure-track and permanent status faculty hiring process to seek faculty with the expertise to lead our institution in serving Black and Brown students. This cluster hire is an opportunity for the college community to continue to act upon our values but more importantly for the empowering of our students' self-efficacy, for cultivating sense of belonging, and for the diversity of our entire student body, especially Black and Brown students, being reflected in a position of power in the classroom. Learn more about Pierce's faculty cluster hire here: .

We are excited to invite you to bring your lived experiences and authentic selves to contribute to discourse and action in supporting Black and Brown students.

About the Program
The Pierce College Success Department, within the Transitional Education division, is a dynamic group of full-time and part-time faculty who serve a diverse student population. College Success classes orient students to the behaviors, expectations, and rewards of college as well as academic support services within a supportive inclusive classroom environment. The program seeks candidates with a strong commitment to supporting diverse students as they transition to college and navigate systems of higher education. Candidates bring engaging facilitation skills, passion and care for students, and the ability to collaborate across campus to support student excellence. The department is committed to teaching that promotes belonging, affirms student identities, and creates opportunities for student excellence at an anti-racist institution. College Success instructors are a crucial first point of contact for students. A common curriculum is used in College Success and instructors are provided all content and assignments to ensure a common student experience. In addition to course outcomes, faculty teach and assess the College Core Abilities Outcomes: Critical, Creative and Reflective Thinking, Information Competency, Effective Communication, Global Citizenship, and Intercultural Engagement.

About Pierce College
Pierce College is an innovative community college striving to re-envision our institution through an antiracist framework to advance equity in student engagement and learning. We value student learning experiences that foster inclusion and intercultural engagement in the classroom and that expand into our local and global communities. Faculty, staff, and administrators work collaboratively to lead initiatives that advance equitable student success: from closing areas of inequity to building guided career pathways. The college serves over 15,000 students in basic skills, transfer, and professional technical programs. Through continuous efforts, we have improved retention rates by 17% and graduation rates by 89%. This year, Pierce was again named a top community college by several national organizations.

Pierce College employees and students live and work in various communities that offer the diverse cultural and environmental benefits of rural, suburban, and urban lifestyles in the Pacific Northwest. As part of the community and technical college system in Washington State, the District includes Pierce College Fort Steilacoom, Pierce College Puyallup, Pierce College at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, as well as other extended learning sites.

Essential Functions

• Designing and teaching a variety of courses in the department, specifically College Success courses, in a manner that promotes Black and Brown excellence;
• Creating race-conscious course assessments and evaluations, assessing data, and engaging in continuous improvement of courses based on that analysis in order to advance student achievement of outcomes, success in subsequent courses, and impact on retention, graduation, and successful transition to employment or further education;
• Continuously innovating inclusive pedagogy and active learning experiences (campus, online, hybrid) in response to assessment and evidence/data analysis;
• Provide District Leadership in curriculum, staffing and program development;
• Assist with District-wide professional development and trainings that integrate college success strategies across the disciplines;
• Demonstrating cultural humility and intercultural engagement, including an awareness and understanding of historically marginalized populations, and the creation of an educational environment that affirms the identities and communications of students of color;
• Incorporating appropriate and engaging technology across modalities;
• Creatively designing learning experiences that extend beyond delivering content and assist students in achieving course, program, and degree outcomes, including the college's five core abilities of Intercultural Engagement; Critical, Creative and Reflective Thinking; Information Competency; Global Citizenship; and Effective Communication;
• Contributing to a collaborative and innovative department, division, and institution;
• Leading efforts to increase student achievement in College Success, including closing areas of inequity, particularly with regard to race and ethnicity;
• Teaching, advising, and mentoring students holistically from recruitment to completion and transition to employment or further education;
• Engaging in shared governance including district-wide efforts to build an antiracist institution focused on action to advance access, retention, and success for our most marginalized and vulnerable students and employees;
• Actively engaging with cohort peers as part of the First-Year Faculty Cohort in the first year of the tenure process, which will provide opportunities to engage with practices that enable Black and Brown student excellence;
• Department coordination responsibilities may be assigned as part of this position.

Qualifications

Graduate Degree in Education, Adult Education, Student Development or related field.

Application Process

To be considered for this position, applicants must include the following items in their application package:

WITHIN THE PROFILE AND SUPPLEMENTAL QUESTIONS SECTION:

• References: contact information for 3 professional references with name, relationship to candidate, address, email address, and telephone number. Letters of recommendation will not be accepted.
• Cover Letter (approx. 500 words): Letter of formal application that addresses how your experience and education qualifies you to perform the assigned responsibilities.
• Supplemental Question (approx. 500 words): Responses to the following: Provide specific examples how you fulfill a t least 2 of the following 4 criteria: ( 1) Have experience or have demonstrated commitment to teaching, mentoring and/or engaging in services for Black and Brown students; (2) Have demonstrated knowledge of barriers for Black and Brown students and experience in addressing disproportionate impact at an institution; (3) Have experience in or have demonstrated commitment in facilitating Black and Brown students’ navigating a higher education institution; (4) Have experience or have demonstrated commitment to integrating elements of culturally relevant and inclusive pedagogy. ****Please see: ***

ATTACHMENTS (2) :

• Curriculum Vitae: Detailed curriculum vitae of all educational and professional experience, including a list of courses taught.
• Relevant Transcripts: Unofficial copies of relevant college and university transcripts that include degree received and confer date. Degrees earned outside the US: international transcripts MUST include a foreign credential evaluation. For a list of approved credential evaluation services visit: . Unofficial transcripts acceptable for application process; official transcripts required prior to hire.

***APPLICATION MATERIALS NOT INCLUDED IN THE LIST OF ATTACHMENTS WI LL NOT BE VIEWED. Birthdates, social security numbers and photos will be redacted. If possible, please do not include these in your application materials***

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Terms of Employment
These 2 vacancies, which are contingent upon funding, are full-time, tenure-track assignments of 174 contracted days per year with the tenure process starting in September 2025. Assignment may include district discipline/program coordination, as well as evening, hybrid, and/or online teaching. This is a District position with a "home" campus assignment. Initial placement of one vacancy will be at the PUYALLUP campus and the other at the FORT STEILACOOM campus. Candidates will be working for a District Dean and will be required to attend district meetings as well as collaborate with colleagues across the district and across departments. This position requires regular and consistent attendance.
Salary & Benefits
Initial salary placement is based on the current full-time faculty salary schedule and is dependent upon education and experience. Salary placement for newly hired full-time faculty will be at one of five levels based upon qualifications including teaching experience and credentials. The five levels range from $72,882 to $78,675 per 174-day academic year. Opportunities for summer employment and other assignments are in addition to the base salary. While not guaranteed, full-time faculty may have the opportunity for additional income during the academic year and summer through additional teaching. These opportunities are based on a variety of considerations including: student needs, balanced schedules, faculty preference and other appropriate factors.

Full-time faculty may receive an annual COLA equal to that allocated by the state. Newly tenured faculty members will receive a $2,000 salary increase starting in the first year of their tenure.