Tenured/Tenure-Track: Open-Rank, Center for Community Health and Aging School of Public Health

Location College Station, TX

Open Date 7/5/2024

Position ID 142324

Description

The School of Public Health at Texas A&M University invites well-qualified scholars in the field of public health and aging to submit applications for a full-time, open-rank tenure-track or tenured faculty position with a 9-month appointment. The purpose of this position is two-fold: 1) the faculty will contribute to teaching and service in one of the four departments in the School: Environmental and Occupational Health, Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Health Policy and Management, or Health Behavior, and 2) they will conduct rigorous research and serve as core faculty in the Board of Regents-approved Center for Community Health and Aging (CCHA).

Texas A&M University is a member of the Association of American Universities (AAU) and is classified as a R1-Very High Research Activity University, according to the Carnegie Classification System, with over $1 Billion in annual research expenditures. It is one of 17 institutions in the nation to hold the triple designation as a land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant university. The School of Public Health is accredited by the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH) and has a strong commitment to scholarly inquiry, rigorous research, high-quality teaching, and mentoring.

Candidates for this position should have evidence of scholarship and extramural research activity focused on public health and aging. As an open-rank position, it is expected that a candidate’s experience will vary based on their career stage. For example, a new tenure-track Assistant Professor should show potential for success in external funding and scientific dissemination, as well as the ability to meaningfully engage in the classroom and mentor students. Associate or Full Professor candidates should have a history of active research (including federal funded projects), a strong publication record, evidence of interpersonal collaborations, and experience mentoring early career faculty, doctoral students, and/or post-doctoral fellows.

It is expected that a successful candidate will conduct Center-related research, teach in one or more graduate and undergraduate programs within the School of Public Health (dependent upon their department affiliation), mentor students, and engage in professional service. The anticipated start date is August 1, 2025. Applications will be considered until the positions are filled.

About the Center for Community Health and Aging 

The mission of the Center for Community Health and Aging is to increase the capacity of individuals, organizations, and communities, to improve population health and aging well across the life-course utilizing a community health development approach and multi-level evidence-based solutions.  In 2024, a new director, Dr. Whitney Garney, was appointed. The Center includes six core faculty members with expertise in aging and health promotion, systems science, health risk behaviors across the life course, community health, community capacity building, adolescent health, and technology interventions. The Center includes 20 full-time staff members working on a range of federally funded grants, service contracts, and state/community initiatives.

The Center has a vibrant research portfolio that primarily focuses on healthy aging across the life-course and community health. The Center has a nationally known training agenda, focusing on equipping the public health workforce through Community Health Worker (and CHW-I) training, evidence-based programs, and community capacity building. Funding sources have included the National Institutes of Health, Office of Population Affairs, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Administration for Community Living, as well as other federal and state agencies, private companies, and foundations. The Center is poised to grow its capacity with additional core faculty that can lead or co-lead the Center in the areas of healthy aging over the life course, the built environment, social determinants of health, digital health, older worker health and functioning, or other relevant topics.

Additional Information 

Located in College Station, TX on the flagship campus of the Texas A&M University System, the CEPH-accredited Texas A&M University School of Public Health (SPH) has over 91 faculty in four departments. Texas A&M University, a land-, sea-, and space-grant institution, was the state’s first public institution of higher learning, is a member of the prestigious Association of American Universities (AAU) and boasts world-class resources available to SPH faculty. Texas A&M University is home to the Human-Clinical Research Facility (https://education.tamu.edu/cehd-department-conserves-energy-thanks-to-energy-performance-program/hcrf-2/) ,  Huffines Institute for Sports Medicine & Human Performance (https://www.huffinesinstitute.org/) ,  Mosbacher Institute within the Bush School of Government and Public Service (https://bush.tamu.edu/mosbacher/) , Texas A&M Telehealth Institute (https://today.tamu.edu/2023/05/31/board-of-regents-approves-texas-am-health-telehealth-institute/) , Texas A&M Health Family Care (https://health.tamu.edu/care/specialties/family-care/index.html) , and other resources within the Texas A&M System that are relevant for a variety of research programs for community health and aging. 

Qualifications

Candidates must hold a doctoral degree (PhD or equivalent) and demonstrate a strong record of scholarship as appropriate for their rank. A candidates’ scholarship must focus on public health and aging that aligns with the Center for Community Health and Aging’s mission.  Faculty considering this opportunity will be asked to identify an academic home in any of the four departments in the School (https://public-health.tamu.edu/departments/index.html) : Health Behavior, Environmental and Occupational Health, Epidemiology and Biostatistics, or Health Policy and Management.

Application Instructions

All applications materials should be submitted through or uploaded to Interfolio apply.interfolio.com/149243. Please provide: 1) curriculum vitae, 2) cover letter including teaching philosophy, and 3) a personal statement to include philosophy and plans for research, teaching and service, as applicable. Also, please provide a list of five (5) references; references will be contacted if selected for an interview. Questions regarding this posting may be sent to Dr. Whitney Garney (wrgarney@tamu.edu) , Search Committee Chair.