Philosophy Instructor (Full-time Tenure-Track Faculty Position)

San Mateo County Community College District

Philosophy Instructor (Full-time Tenure-Track Faculty Position)

San Mateo County Community College District

Posting Number: 2F0116
Location: Skyline College
Department:
Position Number: 2F0116
Percentage of Full Time: The work year is 175 days (10 months of service).
FLSA: Exempt (does not accrue overtime)
Months per Year: 10
If other, please specify:
Min Salary:
Max Salary:
Position Type: Faculty Positions

Who We Are:

The San Mateo County Community College District is committed to achieving educational equity for all students. As outlined in the District’s Strategic Plan, “success, equity, and social justice for our students are longstanding goals.” The District’s “Students First” Strategic Plan is focused on “Student Success, Equity and Social Justice.” We provide students with a rich and dynamic learning experience that embraces our commitment to provide quality education and promote life-long learning — emphasizing collaboration and engaging students in and out of the classroom, encouraging them to realize their goals, and to become global citizens and socially responsible leaders. When you join our San Mateo County Community College District team, you can expect to be part of an inclusive, innovative and equity-focused community that approaches higher education as a matter of social justice. We achieve this through broad collaboration among faculty and classified staff, administration, students and community partners.

The College and the District:

Skyline College is part of the San Mateo County Community College District and is designated as a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI), enrolling approximately 16,000 students each academic year. Skyline College has a diverse student population that is a reflection of the communities that it serves. Detailed information about the student population, including data related to student success, can be found on Skyline College’s Office of Planning, Research, Innovation, & Effectiveness (PRIE) website.

Who We Want:

We value the ability to serve students from a broad range of academic, socioeconomic, cultural, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, racial and ethnic backgrounds We prioritize applicants who demonstrate an understanding of the benefits that diversity brings to a professional educational community. The successful candidate will be an equity-minded individual who is committed to collaborating with faculty, classified staff, administration, students and community partners in strengthening the culture of equity and antiracism throughout the District. The San Mateo County Community District seeks employees who value mentorship and working in a collegial, collaborative environment, guided by a commitment to helping students achieve their educational goals.

An equity-minded individual is a person who already does or has demonstrated the desire to:

(1) Understand the importance of holding ourselves accountable as educators for closing equity gaps and engaging in equitable practices;

(2) Reframe inequities as a problem of practice and view the elimination of inequities as an individual and collective responsibility;

(3) Encourage positive race-consciousness and embrace human difference;

(4) Reflect on institutional and teaching practices and aim to make them more culturally responsive; and

(5) Strategically build buy-in and participation among colleagues for equity-related initiatives.

The San Mateo County Community District seeks employees who value mentorship and working in a collegial, collaborative environment, guided by a commitment to helping all students achieve their educational goals. All departments strongly encourage collaboration across disciplines to create inclusive, integrated, and interdisciplinary learning experiences. College faculty are expected to be knowledgeable about, and willing to use, different learning and teaching methods appropriate for the students whom we serve.

The Position:

The College seeks a full-time, tenure track faculty member in Philosophy. The ideal candidate will share the College’s commitment to educating a racially and socioeconomically diverse student population.

Start date of this assignment: Fall 2025.

Duties and Responsibilities:

The duties below are representative of the duties of the classification and are not intended to cover all of the duties performed by the incumbent(s) of any particular position. The omission of specific statements of duties does not exclude them from the position if the scope of work is similar, related, or a logical assignment to this classification.
  1. Teach classes in philosophy, which may include Introduction to Philosophy, Critical Thinking, Ethics, Introduction to World Religions, and Symbolic Logic. Participate in curriculum planning and development
  2. Perform other professional duties as required by contract and general institutional and divisional needs
  3. Consult and work with students during regularly scheduled office hours
  4. Teach in a variety of modalities, which includes face-to-face, online and hybrid
  5. Articulate a vision for department growth
  6. Participate as a member of division and college committees.
The college offers day, evening, and weekend classes, and faculty may be required to teach during any of these.

Minimum Qualifications:

  • Possession of a Master’s or above in philosophy OR Bachelor’s in philosophy AND Master’s or above in humanities or religious studies, OR the equivalent (see below)
  • Demonstrated cultural competence, sensitivity to, and understanding of the diverse academic, socioeconomic, ethnic, neurodivergent, and LGBTQIA+ backgrounds of community college students, faculty, and staff as these factors relate to the need for equity minded-practice both within and outside of the classroom

Physical Requirements:
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

The screening committee will select interview candidates from among those applicants who, in addition to meeting the minimum requirements, give evidence of any or all of the following.

Subject Matter Preparation:
Preference will be given to candidates who:

  1. Demonstrate successful experience in teaching courses such as Introduction to Philosophy, Critical Thinking, Ethics, Introduction to World Religions, and Symbolic Logic
  2. Have the ability to adapt and develop a curriculum for the philosophy department
Evidence of outstanding ability as a teacher:
  1. Commitment to teaching excellence and development of teaching skills that exhibit sensitivity to the different styles of learning found in community college classrooms
  2. Ability to adapt teaching methodology to meet the needs of an ethnically and culturally diverse audience
  3. Commitment to the SMCCCD goal of integrating writing skills across the curriculum
  4. Commitment to multicultural and interdisciplinary approaches that stress cooperation and collaboration
  5. Experience in or preparation for teaching interdisciplinary courses in the Humanities and/or Social Sciences
  6. Ability to evaluate the effectiveness of one’s pedagogy and modify techniques to engage students
  7. Assist students in acquiring, analyzing, and evaluating information through appropriate technology, including the use of computer-based technology applicable to the subject area of the assignment
  8. Ability to assist students in successfully using the college’s distance education course management system for online and in-person classes
  9. Ability to ensure consistent and appropriate monitoring of student progress
  10. Ability to motivate students to develop higher-order thinking skills
Evidence of effectiveness as a colleague:
  1. Ability and desire to work collaboratively with faculty and staff of the Social Sciences Program to enhance instruction, curriculum, student learning support, and student success
  2. Commitment to the professional responsibility of serving on participatory governance committees and leadership opportunities on campus

Preferred Qualifications:

  • Recent experience working with racially minoritized and other disproportionately-impacted students in the classroom and an understanding of how historical patterns of exclusion of these groups within higher education and particular fields shape patterns of participation and outcomes
  • Willingness to examine and remediate one’s instructional, relational, and classroom practices to more effectively engage and support racially minoritized and other disproportionately impacted students
  • Experience and skill with addressing inequity in the classroom and on campus
  • Experience and expertise in culturally-responsive teaching in Philosophy
  • Demonstrated ability to address equity gaps within Philosophy courses in all instructional modalities
  • Demonstrated knowledge regarding the implications of the Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) and Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions (AANAPISI) designations for institutional, departmental and instructional practices

Benefits:
Open Date: 01/30/2025
First Review Date: 03/06/2025
Close Date:
Open Until Filled: Yes

Special Instructions Summary:

Required Application Materials

All applicants are required to submit:

1. A completed online District application form (go to https://jobs.smccd.edu to complete the application and to apply for this position)
2. A resume that details all relevant education, training, and teaching experience (including courses taught), and other work experience
3. Undergraduate and graduate academic transcripts (copies accepted)
Unofficial copies of all undergraduate and graduate academic transcripts may be submitted with the application; official copies will be required at the time of hire.  
4. In addition to addressing your qualifications and experience, your cover letter must include discussion of the following questions:
  • How have you fostered success in an open-access institution for students who have been historically marginalized?
  • What are the key factors for creating successful educational experiences for racially-minoritized and other underserved disproportionately disadvantaged students?
  • How is your teaching approach culturally responsive to the students you serve?
  • How have you worked with your department(s), division(s), and/or institution(s) to help realize what you have described in your responses to questions one through three?
If you have any questions regarding your application, please contact:
SMCCCD Office of Human Resources
3401 CSM Drive, San Mateo, CA 94402
Tel.: (650) 574-6555 Fax (650) 574-6574
Email: [email protected]
Web Page: https://smccd.edu/humanresources/

Conditions of Employment:

Prior to employment, the selected candidate will be required to complete the following:

1. Submit official transcripts (applies to all faculty or educational administrative positions)
Foreign Education completed outside of the United States must be deemed equivalent to that gained in conventional/accredited U.S. education programs in order for it to be considered for the satisfaction of minimum qualifications. Foreign transcripts must be translated and evaluated by a U.S.-based credentials evaluation service. The District currently accepts evaluations from agencies approved by the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing.

2. Submit verifications of prior employment

3. Satisfactory references

4. Successfully being cleared for employment through the background checking process
In addition to background checks, the District may review publicly available information about a candidate on the Internet. If a candidate is aware of incorrect or inaccurate information that is available on the Internet, the candidate is welcome to address such an issue with the Office of Human Resources.

5. Present original documents for proof of eligibility to work in the United States

6. Approval of your employment by the SMCCCD Board of Trustees

7. Provide a certificate of Tuberculosis exam for initial employment.

8. Have fingerprints taken by a Live Scan computer (Clearance must be received prior to first day of employment). Please note that the California Education Code requires, in part, that community college districts shall not employ or retain in employment persons in public school service who have been convicted of certain felonies, a misdemeanor drug charge (including alcohol offenses) or misdemeanor moral turpitude (sexual offense) crime. However, consideration may be given to those whose drug convictions occurred more than five years ago. A conviction for other crimes may not necessarily disqualify you from the job for which you may be applying.

EEO Statement:

The San Mateo County Community College District is an Equal Opportunity Employer that seeks to employ individuals who represent the rich diversity of cultures, language groups, and abilities of its surrounding communities.

Accommodations:

Applicants who have disabilities may request that special accommodations be made in order to complete the selection process. Accommodation requests and a copy of the Americans with Disabilities Act applicant procedures can be made by completing our: Applicant Reasonable Accommodation Request Form

Annual Security Report:

San Mateo County Community College District’s (SMCCCD) 2024 Annual Security Report (ASR), required by the Clery Act, includes statistics for the previous three years (2021–2023) concerning reported crimes that occurred on campus; in certain off-campus buildings owned or controlled by SMCCCD; and on public property within, or immediately adjacent to and accessible from SMCCCD. The 2024 Annual Security Report also outlines various campus safety and security policies concerning crime reporting, prevention and response to sexual and gender violence, alcohol and drug use, crime prevention, emergency response and evacuation procedures, and other matters. The Annual Security Report also includes important tips to help every community member remain safe and avoid becoming a victim of crime. The 2024 Annual Security Report is now available on the Public Safety website. You can also obtain a copy of this report by contacting the Department of Public Safety at the District Office or any of the three Campuses (650) 738-7000. The report includes information about criminal activity on our campuses, emergency procedures, and resources.

To apply, visit: https://jobs.smccd.edu/

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