Director, School of Child and Youth Care

Posted: April 16, 2024

Deadline to Apply: Tuesday, April 30, 2024

The School of Child and Youth Care in the Faculty of Community Services at Toronto Metropolitan University invites applicants for the position of Director of the School of Child and Youth Care with the successful candidate to be appointed for a term of three or five years (subject to extension in year 3), commencing July 1, 2024 , with the possibility of renewal for an additional three- or five-year term. 

Reporting to the Dean, the Director will work collaboratively with faculty and staff to ensure that curriculum planning, program development, and community engagement activities support excellence in scholarship, research, teaching and learning. In addition, the Director will provide strong advocacy on behalf of the School in relation to other University departments, the profession itself and external stakeholders.

The Director will apply innovative strategies, strong leadership, interpersonal and communication skills, and a student-centred approach, to solve complex problems and enable the School to achieve its goals. The Director will role model the School’s and the University’s Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (EDIA) values and commitments, and furthermore promote EDIA in the context of the profession and the academic discipline.

The duties and responsibilities of the School Director are laid out in detail in Article 26.1.E . of the Toronto Metropolitan Faculty Association Collective Agreement . The Director will provide exemplary academic and administrative leadership, including stewardship of human and financial resources, and will work collaboratively to provide leadership for curriculum, program development, professional accreditation, community engagement, and faculty development, research and scholarly activity, while promoting and coordinating the continued evolution of the School. The new Director will be a visionary leader who can take the School to the next level of achievement, consistent with the academic plan of the Faculty and the University. The new Director will have the support of at least one Associate Director to assist and support the above-listed duties and responsibilities. 

The successful candidate must hold a doctorate in a discipline relevant to child and youth care and shall be a tenured faculty member by the date of appointment. The candidate must present evidence of: 

• relevant knowledge and skills in academic and administrative leadership;
• experience with university teaching, curriculum development, excellent pedagogical practices and student engagement; 
• an active scholarship of research or creative activity; 
• an ability to mentor junior faculty;
• an ability to promote the School across the University and within the industry/profession; 
• experience in developing strategic partnerships;
• demonstrated commitment to implementing EDIA practices and policies in research, teaching, and administration, among colleagues, staff and students.
• undergraduate and graduate level teaching experience that addresses the needs and human rights of young people, and a well-established record of relevant externally funded research and scholarly publications that has a focus on young people. 
• a deep commitment to youth-led therapeutic work, research, and community building with a focus on meeting the needs of the most marginalized young people, including, but not limited to Black, Indigenous, racialized, 2SLGBTQ+, those dealing with poverty, and young people with disabilities. 
  
   

Knowledge of the university’s departments and functioning as well as of evolving trends in the professional context of the discipline is desirable. 

It is also vital that the candidate takes a critical engagement with issues of social injustice and ideally the candidate would have lived experience with social locations that deal with oppression and marginalization. Finally, the ideal candidate would have a deep commitment to community-focused and led work. Preference will be given to a candidate with demonstrated experience in teaching, research, and academic administration in the above-mentioned areas. 

 

The School of Child and Youth Care focuses on teaching emerging child and youth care practitioners and emerging scholars in the field of child and youth care. The curriculum is practice-oriented and focused on relational practice in child and youth care settings such as group homes, foster care, the community, hospitals and schools, with a very strong focus on the experiences of Black youth, Indigenous youth, young people identifying as 2SLGBTQ+, and young people with disabilities in systems such as child welfare, child & youth mental health, education, health care and community-based services. Pedagogically, the curriculum draws on professional practice experience in the role of child and youth care practitioner on the part of instructors and faculty members. The School offers undergraduate and graduate (Master’s) programs. Our faculty prides itself on the excellence of its research and on the quality of its teaching. We are interested in candidates that will contribute to our existing research and teaching strengths by bringing innovative and diverse perspectives and experiences to the work. The School is the home of the John C. Eaton Chair in Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship. The Director will champion the School of CYC’s ongoing efforts to promote anti-oppressive curricula and professionalization of the field. 

 Applications, consisting of the following, must be received by April 30, 2024:

• a letter of application which includes: 
  • the candidate’s vision for the School which builds upon the applicant's perceptions of the existing strengths of the School; 
  • the candidate’s views about the characteristics required to successfully lead a department of this size (which includes diverse academic programs); 
• examples of past academic leadership experience; 
• a one-page statement on past, current and/or planned contributions to EDIA such as, but not limited to: research/ teaching that incorporates a focus on underrepresented groups; inclusive pedagogies; public engagement activities that reach out to marginalized communities; mentoring students from underrepresented groups.
  
   

Toronto Metropolitan is committed to accessibility for persons with disabilities. For any confidential accommodation needs and/or inquiries regarding accessing the Faculty Recruitment Portal, please contact vpfa@torontomu.ca

Any confidential inquiries can be directed to the Dean of the Faculty of Community Services, Dr. Kiaras Gharabaghi at: fcsdean@torontomu.ca . 

 

At the intersection of mind and action, Toronto Metropolitan is on a transformative path to become Canada’s leading comprehensive innovation university. Integral to this path is the placement of equity, diversity and inclusion as fundamental to our institutional culture. Our current academic plan outlines each as core values and we work to embed them in all that we do.

Toronto Metropolitan University welcomes those who have demonstrated a commitment to upholding the values of equity, diversity, and inclusion and will assist us to expand our capacity for diversity in the broadest sense. In addition, to correct the conditions of disadvantage in employment in Canada, we encourage applications from members of groups that have been historically disadvantaged and marginalized, including First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples, Indigenous peoples of North America, racialized persons, persons with disabilities, and those who identify as women and/or 2SLGBTQ+.