Tenure Track Faculty Position

Assistant Professor of Housing and Land Use

Department of Urban and Regional Planning

College of Environmental Design

California State Polytechnic University, Pomona invites applications for a tenure track faculty position in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning. Cal Poly Pomona is one of three polytechnic universities in the 23-campus California State University system and among 12 such institutions nationwide. Since its founding in 1938, Cal Poly Pomona students participate in an integrative experiential learning education that is inclusive, relevant, and values diverse perspectives and experiences. With a variety of degree programs in the arts, humanities, sciences, engineering, and professional disciplines, the university is well known for its learn- by-doing approach and Teacher Scholar Model.

The university is noted for its scenic and historic 1,400-acre campus, which was once the winter ranch of cereal magnate W.K. Kellogg. We acknowledge that Cal Poly Pomona resides on the territorial and homelands of the Tongva and Tataavium people who are the traditional land caretakers of Tovaangar. The university’s nearly 30,000 students are taught and mentored by the campus’s more than 1,400 faculty as part of 54 baccalaureate and 29 master’s degree programs, 11 credential and certificate programs, and a doctorate in educational leadership.

We believe diversity strengthens community. In 2022, the campus launched the Black Thriving Initiative recognizing that Cal Poly Pomona’s future as a university must be linked to the success of its Black community. More information about our campus initiatives and our Principles of Community can be found on the Office of Inclusive Excellence’s website. 

Highly regarded among its peer institutions, Cal Poly Pomona is No. 2 in the U.S. News and World Report rankings of top public regional universities in the west and was named the No. 28 best value college in the nation by Money Magazine. Cal Poly Pomona, a Hispanic-Serving Institution and an Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institution, stands as a national leader in promoting social mobility, and was placed among the 25 top institutions in the country in awarding bachelor’s degrees to minoritized students by Diverse Issues in Higher Education.

The Cal Poly Pomona campus is located less than 30 miles east of downtown Los Angeles at the intersection of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties. It is within an hour’s drive of beaches, mountains and deserts. For additional information about the university, please visit www.cpp.edu, and for more about faculty life, please see YourLife@CPP.

 Student Population. California residents comprise the majority (96%) of applicants to undergraduate programs at Cal Poly Pomona, and 41% of new students were transfers in Fall 2022. 57% of Cal Poly Pomona students are first generation, 70% receive financial aid, and 44% qualify as Pell-eligible. The university enrolls a diverse student body that identifies as 53% Latinx, 22% Asian, 14% White, 3% Black, 2% International, 4% two or more races, 3% unknown and less than 1% Native Hawaiian or Native Pacific Islander and less than 1% Native American Indigenous. Thirty-nine percent of the student body were STEM majors with the top enrolled programs including psychology, mechanical engineering, civil engineering, biology and computer science.

Inclusive Excellence and Student Success. We aspire to be the model inclusive polytechnic university in the nation. We have a strong commitment to inclusive excellence and to educational experiences that leverage the diverse perspectives and experiences needed to succeed and thrive in a diverse society.

*As a part of the application for faculty positions, all candidates must submit a Student Success Statement that demonstrates their commitment and record of contributions to diversity and equity through their teaching, scholarship, or service by speaking to at least two of the inclusive excellence criteria below.

Candidates should explain how they have engaged in the criteria below in their pedagogy, scholarship, and/or service, as well as the level to which these efforts have been consistently incorporated into their work.

Inclusive Excellence Criteria:

1. Incorporates the contributions and struggles of historic ethnic minority groups or other disadvantaged communities into their teaching, scholarly work, and/or service contributions;
2. Adopts teaching strategies that support the learning and success of students from diverse student populations;
3. Mentors and engages diverse student populations in discovery, scholarship, and creative activities;
4. Engages students in problem-based projects and learning that address the needs of diverse communities;
5. Possesses knowledge of challenges and barriers for underrepresented students and faculty within the discipline and uses it to inform their work in specific ways;
6. Mentors and assists diverse student populations interested in pursuing graduate education;
7. Engages in community-responsive action research or service with diverse student populations and communities;
8. Has experience in or demonstrates a commitment to adopting experiential learning activities and pedagogy with diverse student populations and communities; and
9. Has expertise in or demonstrated commitment to teaching, scholarship and/or service that contributes to access, diversity, and equal opportunity in higher education.

College of Environmental Design (ENV): ENV’s mission is to provide an outstanding academic and professional learning experience within a multidisciplinary structure. Creative excellence, environmental sustainability, and social responsibility guide ENV's programs. ENV was established in 1970. Our award-winning programs offer professional degrees at the undergraduate and graduate levels in Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Urban and Regional Planning; at the undergraduate level in Art History and Visual Communication Design; and at the graduate level in Regenerative Studies. Faculty research, professional and creative activities are brought into the classroom through the Teacher-Scholar Model. Support and recognition for faculty efforts facilitates interdisciplinary collaboration and promotes their rich talent, expertise and influence. We seek opportunities for engagement with practice in California, nationally and internationally. We are educating the future leaders of the design professions, and therefore have an obligation to ensure that all constituencies of those professions represent the diversity of California's population. Diversity represents our strength. 

Department of Urban and Regional Planning (URP):  URP’s programs emphasize interdisciplinary learning and linkages between practice and theory, taking advantage of connections with the architecture, landscape architecture, regenerative studies and art programs that are also housed in the College of Environmental Design. The faculty emphasizes teaching, enriched by research activities, professional involvement, and community service. The undergraduate program provides a diverse student body with an entry into professional planning practice. The graduate program, offered primarily in the evening, provides a professionally oriented program. According to Planetizen’s ranking system (2023), the graduate program was ranked among the top ten suburban programs and second most diverse program. The department has 7 tenured and tenure track faculty and serves about 50 graduate and 200 undergraduate students. URP is one of the largest and the most diverse planning programs in the U.S. About 56 percent of the students are Hispanic/Latino. Asian students (19%) are the second-largest ethnic group, followed by White (14%) and Black/African American (2%). The student body also represents college students from socially and economically underrepresented populations. A large group of URP students is first-generation college students and transfer students. 

Position description: We seek a candidate with demonstrated strength in housing and land use. We welcome candidates who are engaged in practice or research that advances housing, real estate development, zoning, and land use policy. Mixed methods approaches are welcome. We are particularly interested in those whose teaching/research agenda connects housing supply and finance to various urban issues, including but not limited to homelessness, affordable housing, demographic shift, zoning reform, and gentrification and displacement.

We also have a specific interest in candidates who can teach graduate-level planning theory courses. Moreover, we value candidates who have demonstrated experience in guiding students through community-based learning and research projects aimed at promoting access to homes and aligning housing/land use and changing demographics in the U.S.

We invite applicants from diverse academic backgrounds to apply, including but not limited to urban planning, real estate development and finance, geography, demography and population studies, sociology, political science or political economy, public administration, and law.

The position requires teaching, advising, scholarly activities, and service to the profession, the department, college, and university. This faculty member will contribute to instruction and research in the areas of specialization and curriculum development for the department’s accredited undergraduate and master’s programs in planning. We are especially interested in candidates who will thrive in an inclusive environment and who can contribute to our department’s diversity through their teaching, scholarship, and/or service to the institution. We seek candidates who will further the department’s commitment to diversifying the urban planning profession. 

Minimum requirements include:

• • Ph.D. in urban planning and/or related fields (ABD will be considered but degree must be conferred by the start date of the position).
  • Demonstrated commitment to inclusivity and equity. Evidence should be provided in a Student Success Statement that responds to the prompt above - “Inclusive Excellence and Student Success.”
  • Demonstrated expertise in housing and land use with interests in one or more of the areas mentioned above.
  • Demonstrated commitment to teaching excellence, including participation in or contribution to curricular development. 

Preferred/Desired Qualifications:

• • Enthusiasm for teaching and potential for teaching a range of courses in the curriculum.
  • Record of scholarly work and/or professional planning experience, particularly in housing and land use areas. 
  • Insights into mentoring & advising students, especially first-generation and students from historically underrepresented groups. 
  • Record of teaching planning theory courses.  

Conditions of Employment:

The person offered this position is required to pass a background check.

Application Process:

A completed application will consist of

• • Cover letter in which you describe your interest in the position, relevant experience, and how you meet the minimum and preferred qualifications;
  • A Student Success Statement (up to 2 pages, single-spaced) that responds to the prompt above - “Inclusive Excellence and Student Success” and addresses at least two of the inclusive excellence criteria listed (please indicate the criteria numbers in your Statement).
  • Curriculum vitae;
  • Research Statement (2-page max);
  • Contact information for 3-5 references (names, titles, and phone/email)
  • Unofficial PhD transcripts

Finalists for the position will:

• • be required to provide official transcripts for highest degree before the on-campus interview;
  • be expected to make a presentation of creative work and a teaching demonstration to faculty and interact with students.

The position is open until filled. First consideration will be given to completed applications received no later than the end of Sunday, November 17, 2024.

Please direct inquiries to sbaek@cpp.edu.

Applications accepted only via PageUp—online application portal—for University hires.

Salary range for academic year, nine month position $84,000-$86,600.

Equal Opportunity Employer

California State Polytechnic University, Pomona is an Equal Opportunity Employer. The university seeks to recruit and retain a diverse workforce as a reflection of our commitment to serve the people of California, to maintain the excellence of the university, and to offer our students richly varied disciplines, perspectives, and ways of knowing. Cal Poly Pomona subscribes to all state and federal regulations and prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, gender identity/gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, pregnancy, age, disability, genetic information, medical condition, and covered veteran status. The university hires only individuals lawfully authorized to work in the United States. As required by the Clery Disclosure Act, the university prepares a public annual security report.