Assistant Professor in Planning

Company Name: University of British Columbia

The University of British Columbia and the School of Community and Regional Planning acknowledges the h?n?q??min??m?-speaking x?m?θk??y??m (Musqueam people) on whose traditional, ancestral and unceded territory the University resides.

SCARP: Knowledge in Action – Planning in Partnership

Overview

The School of Community and Regional Planning (SCARP) at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver campus, invites applications for a tenure-track position at the rank of Assistant Professor. The successful applicant should demonstrate a record of research excellence or the promise of establishing a distinguished record of research and publications, as well as a commitment to high?quality, innovative professional planning education.

Background

SCARP is internationally recognized for the excellence of its research and teaching, as well as leading discourse in planning regarding more inclusive ways of delivering socially, economically and environmentally just outcomes.

The School is unique in Canada for having a partnership with the Musqueam Indian Band in the design and delivery of the Indigenous Community Planning concentration within the Masters of Community and Regional Planning (MCRP) program. The Indigenous Community Planning (ICP) concentration enters its eleventh year in Fall 2022 and has 70 graduates, 35% of whom are Indigenous. There are currently two Indigenous faculty teaching in the ICP program, as well as many Indigenous adjunct faculty and community facilitators. ICP’s scope is Canada-wide but focuses on practical learning with/in First Nations communities in British Columbia.

Given the deepening challenges facing vulnerable communities across the globe, the School is committed not only to generating new knowledge based on Indigenous ways of knowing, but of evolving the theory and practice of how knowledge can frame action and help facilitate positive change. Faculty, students, and alumni, through their research and practice, have already made significant contributions to this end, but we appreciate that there is much more to be done. The School looks forward to benefitting from the insights and ideas of new faculty members as it seeks to develop and take forward its vision. For further details see SCARP: Strategic Plan and Implementation Strategies .

In line with the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, SCARP is working to further indigenize its curriculum and recruitment, as well as learning how to decolonize planning pedagogy and practices. The School is also committed to furthering the goals of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) including Indigenous peoples’ right to self-determination and sovereignty, and to working within the framework of BC’s recent UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, as well as Canada’s recently passed Act respecting the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

More generally, the School’s high quality professionally oriented programs engage innovative and creative teaching practices and offers opportunities to work with outstanding students. Our graduate planning program, the Masters of Community and Regional Planning, is accredited by both the Canadian Professional Standards Board and the United States Planning Accreditation Board. The School also has a Research Masters program, co-leads the Masters in Engineering Leadership (MEL) in Urban Systems (with Civil Engineering) and provides seven undergraduate courses. From September 2023 the School will jointly host a new undergraduate major in Urban Studies with the Department of Geography. The School has a well-established PhD program and is committed to a thriving and lively doctoral community. Further information about SCARP can be found on our website .

SCARP is located in the Faculty of Applied Science. The Faculty shares the School’s commitment to research and teaching which seeks to further knowledge in action. The synergies and opportunities offered by Applied Science provide a supportive context for the advancement of SCARP’s ambitions.

This Position

The School is seeking to recruit an Assistant Professor in Planning, with particular expertise in the field of Indigenous community planning. The position will involve teaching core ICP and SCARP courses, including supervising a community-based practicum in a First Nations community, maintaining an active research program with the potential to achieve international recognition, and providing service within the University, and to both the academic and broader community.

Qualities of Applicants

The successful candidate for the position will have:

• A PhD in planning or a related discipline or equivalent professional qualifications in planning or a related discipline.
• Experience of working with and for Indigenous communities, organizations and/or governments, including community-based research and engagement
• Promise in establishing a distinguished research and publishing record in the area of Indigenous community planning, broadly defined.
• Able to apply Indigenous ways of knowing to research and practice in planning.
• Demonstrated potential for and commitment to high?quality, innovative professional planning education.

Knowledge of the histories and cultures of Indigenous peoples in Canada and the legal and political landscape of Indigenous planning and governance in Canada would be valuable, as would knowledge of Comprehensive Community Planning (CCP) in BC.

SCARP values and supports diverse approaches to research and teaching including:

• Collaborations with Indigenous communities
• Community service
• Engagement
• Knowledge-sharing activities
• Contributions to leadership
• Work leading to social or policy impacts

We understand that within higher education in Canada, traditional or conventional academic pathways can reinforce biases in the filling of faculty positions. We encourage applications that may not fit this mold and challenge our ideas of teaching, scholarship, and research of which we may be unaware.

Equity and diversity are essential to academic excellence. An open and diverse community fosters the inclusion of voices that have been underrepresented or discouraged. We encourage applications from members of groups that have been marginalized on any grounds enumerated under the B.C. Human Rights Code, including status as a First Nation, Métis, Inuit, or Indigenous person, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, racialization, disability, political belief, religion, marital or family status, and/or age. All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however, Canadians and permanent residents of Canada will be given priority. Indigenous applicants are particularly encouraged to apply.

Accessibility or special consideration accommodations are available upon request for all applicants at all stages of the selection process. To confidentially request accommodations, please email Dolores Martin.

Application

All applications must be submitted online . Applicants should submit a letter stating their suitability for the position, which will include:

• Brief overviews of
  • Relevant experience and achievements
  • Your background in Indigenous community planning
  • Your approach to teaching, including professional planning education
  • Your research goals, including how your research would deepen or complement the School’s existing strengths and vision
  • How your research, teaching and experiences would contribute to diversity, equity and inclusion at the School
• Names and contact information (including email addresses) of four referees.

Applicants are encouraged to submit supplementary materials, including:

• A teaching dossier (summarizing experience and including, teaching accomplishments, a statement of teaching philosophy, teaching evaluations and any other relevant material.)
• No more than two samples of research publications (which may include professional reports, where appropriate).
• Your website address, if you have one.

The first stage of selection will be based on the letter of application, CVs, and supplementary materials. At the second stage, referees will be contacted for short-listed candidates only. The deadline for applications is December 7, 2022. The anticipated start date for this position is July 1, 2023 or a date to be mutually agreed. Salary will be commensurate with qualifications and experience. The position is subject to final budgetary approval.

Inquiries

Informal inquiries about the nature of this position should be addressed to the Chair of the Search Committee, Professor Heather Campbell via email.

Institutional Context

The University of British Columbia consistently ranks among the 40 best universities globally, and among the top 20 public universities in the world. Vancouver has a dynamic planning environment and is frequently rated as one of the world’s most desirable places to live. Times Higher Education (THE) ranks UBC number one in the world for taking urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts and is ranked first in Canada for making cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.

The Musqueam Indian Band established a Memorandum of Affiliation with UBC in 2006 for the purposes of developing a reciprocal relationship. UBC has an established undergraduate program in Critical Indigenous Studies, which encompasses First Nations Studies and Endangered Languages as well as many other Indigenous initiatives . UBC also has an Indigenous Strategic Plan .

Institutionally SCARP is located in the Faculty of Applied Science, while also having strong relationships with other schools and departments in other Faculties. The Faculty of Applied Science consists of three Schools: Nursing, Architecture and Landscape Architecture, and Community and Regional Planning; as well as six engineering departments: Chemical and Biological Engineering, Civil Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Materials Engineering, Mining Engineering, and the School of Biomedical Engineering. The Faculty of Applied Science’s Strategic Plan Transforming Tomorrow prioritizes transforming ourselves, so our scholarship and learning is better able to address the urgent challenges facing communities and cities, near and far. The combination of disciplines making up Applied Science mean it is uniquely positioned to advance a creative and impactful academic vision.