Open Rank Professor – AI and Emerging Technologies in Education

Position Rank and Title: Open Rank Professor of AI and Emerging Technologies in Education

School/Department Name: Lurie College of Education

Compensation: Commensurate with qualifications, experience, and rank as established by the CSU Salary Schedule. Anticipated hiring academic year annual salary range: $90,000 – $140,000.

Faculty employee benefits are very competitive for the higher education sector. See the CSU Employee Benefits Summary for details about the CSU’s excellent benefits package.

Target Start Date: August 2025

Review of Application begins January 21, 2025

Position Description

The Lurie College of Education (LCOE) at San José State University (SJSU) invites applications for a full-time, tenure-track position at the rank of Assistant, Associate, or Full Professor specializing in the applications, implications, and ethical issues related to AI and other emerging technologies in education. The successful candidate will demonstrate expertise in current and potential future applications of AI and other emerging technologies in education settings and can explore ways in which AI will change the way we teach and learn at all levels, from early childhood education through post-secondary education. The successful candidate will also maintain a commitment to helping advance a vision of how AI can serve equity and justice-focused priorities as well as a commitment to helping LCOE community members imagine what preparing our students for education-related careers and civic engagement should look like in a future shaped in part by AI. LCOE includes departments of Child and Adolescent Development, Communicative Disorders and Sciences, Counselor Education, Educational Leadership, Teacher Education, and Special Education.

Successful candidates will have an active program of research and expertise in the uses, impacts, and ethical implications of AI and emerging technologies in at least one of the settings relevant to LCOE Departments. Areas of scholarship might include but are not limited to:

• The role of AI and emerging technologies in workforce training and development for teachers, counselors, informal educators, speech language pathologists, early childhood specialists, community specialists, or other educational professionals.
• Applications and ethical implications of AI and emerging technologies in educational and clinical settings with children, adolescents, emerging adults, and families
• Policy responses to AI and emerging technologies.
• Pedagogical approaches and responses to AI and emerging technologies, including but not limited to information literacy, effective uses of instructional and assistive technologies for inclusive education, and digital citizenship.
• Protecting against misuses and potential threats of AI and emerging technologies (e.g. surveillance of minoritized or vulnerable populations in schools and the communities they serve, data harvesting, misuse of predictive analytics related to schooling, intellectual property, etc.)

The Lurie College and SJSU have identified this area of expertise as a high need area. In order to ensure a diverse and robust pool of applicants, this is an open-rank, open-department application. Following initial screening and phone interviews, finalists will be matched with an LCOE department for further screening. Applicants are encouraged to identify one or more departments where they see their work aligning. LCOE values interdisciplinary collaboration within the college and across the university.

Connie L. Lurie College of Education faculty, students, staff, alumni, and community partners are dedicated to creating meaningful, equitable, and inclusive learning experiences for our diverse community. We take an emancipatory stance in our teaching, research, and service activities. In collaboration with our partners across campus and in the community, we strive to transform our schools and shape our society in alignment with our mission and vision as articulated in the Lurie College Strategic Plan. We seek colleagues who are dedicated to critically engaging in their teaching, scholarship, and service, and who see strength in the diversity of our student community. Lurie College includes approximately 55 tenured / tenure-track faculty, 100 lecturers, 20 staff, and 1,800 students across seven different departments. Successful candidates will demonstrate evidence of a commitment to equity and inclusion through their research, teaching, and/or service. We ask that all applicants include a Diversity Statement with their application package that highlights their previous work as well as future plans for inclusion. A guide to writing this statement can be found at SJSU Diversity Statement Guidelines, along with information about how these statements will be evaluated.

Required Qualifications

• Doctorate in Education, Counseling, Communicative Disorders, Child Development, Information Sciences, Learning Sciences, Educational Technology or a related field by the time of start of position;
• Demonstrated expertise in the practical applications and ethical implications of AI and emerging technologies in educational settings, including pedagogical opportunities and responses to potentially transformative disruptions in educational settings, as well as critical attention to potential harms such as concerns around data privacy, students’ rights, environmental impacts, and algorithmic bias, among others;
• Demonstrated success in or potential for developing and maintaining an active program of research, scholarship and/or creative activity (RSCA);
• Demonstrated ability and/or commitment to excellence in teaching across a range of courses at the undergraduate and/or graduate level;
• Demonstrated awareness of and sensitivity to the educational goals of racially, ethnically, socioeconomically, linguistically, and otherwise diverse populations, as might have been gained in cross-cultural study, training, teaching and other comparable experience.

Preferred Qualifications

• Expertise in one or more of the departmental disciplines represented in the LCOE, e.g., child and adolescent development, communicative disorders and sciences, counseling and counselor education, educational leadership, teacher education, and special education.
• Record and/or potential for securing extramural funding.
• An interest in practical applications of research across various educational contexts.
• Ability to work collaboratively across disciplines.
• Ability to work with and/or record of working with PK-12, Community College, non-profit or other educational institutions.
• Ability to understand and navigate industry trends or related issues in AI, including demonstrated application of AI and/or other emerging technologies to teaching, RSCA, or service to the field/community.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and teach a variety of courses at the undergraduate, Masters, and/or EdD levels.;
• Actively engage in a program of RSCA that contributes to the discipline;
• Contribute to curriculum development and innovation;
• Mentor and support undergraduates as well as,Master’s, and/or EdD level graduate students;
• Participate in shared governance via serving in department, college, and university committees and other service assignments; and
• Demonstrate awareness and experience understanding the needs of a student population of great diversity – in age, abilities, cultural background, ethnicity, religion, economic background, primary language, sexual orientation, gender identity, and academic preparation – through inclusive course materials, teaching strategies and advising.

Other Duties

Note that all San José State University employees are considered mandated reporters under the California Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act and are required to comply with the requirements set forth in CSU Executive Order 1083 as a condition of employment. Pursuant to the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act (Clery Act) and CSU systemwide policy, some faculty duties may lead to designation as a Campus Security Authority (CSA). CSAs are required to complete Clery Act training and to immediately report Clery incidents to the institution. 

Faculty employees must complete CSU employee training as assigned and required based on their role (e.g., Data Security, FERPA, Preventing Discrimination and Harassment, Title IX, Health and Safety). The President may recommend or require compliance with safety measures that decrease the likelihood of COVID-19 transmission or illness and allows the core mission and activities of the campus to continue.

Application Procedure

Click Apply Now to complete the SJSU Online Employment Application and attach the following documents:

• letter of interest
• curriculum vitae
• diversity statement
• statement of teaching interests/philosophy
• research plans
• three references with contact information

Inquiries may be directed to the Search Committee Chair: Grinell Smith, [email protected]

Conditional Offer

The work for this faculty position may only be performed in the State of California and requires establishing an on-campus presence. Employment is contingent upon US residence and proof of eligibility to work in the United States. Satisfactory completion of a background check (including a criminal records check) is required for employment. SJSU will make a conditional offer of employment, which may be rescinded if the background check reveals disqualifying information, and/or it is discovered that the candidate knowingly withheld or falsified information. Failure to satisfactorily complete the background check may affect the continued employment of a current employee who was conditionally offered the position.

San José State University: Silicon Valley’s Public University

Located in the heart of Silicon Valley — one of the most innovative regions in the world — San José State University is the founding campus of the 23-campus California State University (CSU) system and the first public university in the West. Recognized as a leading transformative educational institution, San José State is an essential partner in the technological, economic, cultural, and social development of Silicon Valley, the Bay Area, and California. SJSU is a top-200 school nationally in research funding and second highest in research productivity in the CSU system. Cutting-edge research, world-class scholarship, student-centered learning, diverse communities, and commitment to social justice, allow SJSU to provide life-changing opportunities and advance the public good locally and globally.

Equal Employment Statement

San José State University prohibits discrimination on the basis of Age, Ancestry, Caste, Color, Disability, Ethnicity, Gender, Gender Expression, Gender Identity, Genetic Information, Marital Status, Medical Condition, Military Status, Nationality, Race, Religion, Religious Creed, Sex, Sexual Orientation, Sex Stereotype, and Veteran Status. This policy applies to all San José State University students, faculty, and staff as well as University programs and activities. Reasonable accommodations are made for applicants with disabilities who self-disclose.

Campus Security and Fire Safety Notification 

Pursuant to the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act, the Annual Security Report (ASR) is also now available for viewing at https://www.sjsu.edu/clery/docs/SJSU-Annual-Security-Report.pdf. The ASR contains the current security and safety-related policy statements, emergency preparedness and evacuation information, crime prevention and Sexual Assault prevention information, and information about drug and alcohol prevention programming. The ASR also contains statistics of Clery crimes for San José State University locations for the three most recent calendar years. A paper copy of the ASR is available upon request by contacting the Office of the Clery Director by phone at 408-924-1501 or by email at [email protected].

Pursuant to the Higher Education Opportunity Act, the Annual Fire Safety Report (AFSR) is available at https://www.sjsu.edu/clery/docs/SJSU-Annual-Fire-Safety-Report.pdf. The purpose of this report is to disclose statistics for fires that occurred within SJSU on-campus housing facilities for the three most recent calendar years, and to distribute fire safety policies and procedures intended to promote safety on Campus. A paper copy of the AFSR is available upon request by contacting the Housing Office by phone at 408-795-5600 or by email at [email protected].

Read Full Description