Assistant Professor of Professional Practice

Posting Summary

The Department of Music at Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University–New Brunswick, invites applications for a non-tenure-track faculty position in music education at the rank of Assistant Professor of Professional Practice. This is an academic year appointment with summer administrative work that will be additionally compensated. The Music Department at Mason Gross School of the Arts prepares students for fulfilling lives in music, promoting exceptional creative work and cutting-edge research and contributing to the cultural life of our community. In alignment with this mission, the music education program serves undergraduate preservice and graduate in service students, preparing them to be reflective practitioners and critical pedagogues capable of engaging and challenging diverse students in all existing and future forms of PreK–12 music education.

We seek an innovative music educator with a demonstrated commitment to equity and inclusion, student success, developing reflective practitioners, and working with diverse communities. The candidate will demonstrate a passion for preparing undergraduates to become music educators in all areas of music education. The responsibilities of this position are equally divided between administrative and instructional support to the undergraduate music education program. While the music education concentration of this position is open, we particularly encourage those with Strings, Music Technology/Commercial Music, and/or General Music expertise to apply.

The successful candidate will have strong skills in relationship building, program coordination, undergraduate teaching, and organization. The candidate will serve as Rutgers’ representative and the program’s liaison with NJ school districts, district arts supervisors, district administrators, and the state of NJ. Strong communication and relationship building skills are imperative. In this role, the candidate will be highly responsive to both email and phone communications and will seek to cultivate positive relationships with our many partner school districts, through timely communication, policy compliance, and ad-hoc school visits. The person in this role will also collaborate with the Graduate School of Education to complete annually required data collection and reporting. The candidate will possess the knowledge and skills to work autonomously with limited supervision, make decisions quickly and thoughtfully, serve as a major point of contact for the undergraduate music education students, follow and propose needed updates to programmatic policies and procedures, and adhere to a calendar of annual deadlines. The candidate will teach a range of existing undergraduate music education courses, including a two-semester student teaching seminar sequence, and will supervise instructors teaching Instrumental/Vocal Techniques courses and the instructors employed as university supervisors for student teaching. Additional undergraduate courses will be assigned based on the candidate’s area(s) of expertise and programmatic needs. The candidate will also contribute to the annual activities of the Music Education Program which include, but are not limited to, new student admissions, music assembly days, and student progress evaluations. Service on department, school, and/or university committees, and maintaining positive and healthy relationships with NJ schools is expected. The candidate will also maintain a research and/or artistic scholarly practice related to music education in accordance with university promotion guidelines. Other duties, including potential graduate-level teaching, will be assigned in accordance with the needs of the Music Education Program and the Music Department.
The appointment carries an academic year appointment, with additional compensation for summer administrative work, to commence September 1, 2025. Position Status Full Time Posting Number 24FA1230 Posting Open Date 11/14/2024 Posting Close Date 01/03/2025 Qualifications Minimum Education and Experience A doctorate in music education or a related field is required (ABD considered). Experience teaching music in K–12 schools full-time (with certification) is required. Demonstrated ability to learn complex systems and policies quickly is essential. Demonstrated effectiveness in teaching at the undergraduate level is highly desirable. Strong skills in organization and data management are essential.

Preferred experiences include experience as a student teaching supervisor or district arts supervisor and experience using the Danielson Framework (or similar evaluation tool). Knowledge of NJ public school districts and the NJ certification process or demonstrated transferable knowledge from another state is desired. The ability to advise students about state-to-state certification transfer is preferred. Certifications/Licenses Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities Equipment Utilized Physical Demands and Work Environment Overview Housed in one of the leading public research universities on the East Coast, the Department of Music at Mason Gross School of the Arts includes approximately 450 students and 100 total faculty, offering bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees (DMA and PhD) as well as an artist diploma across a comprehensive range of areas in performance, composition, conducting, jazz studies, music education, music theory, and musicology. Students perform, teach, refine their skills, and forge new paths in the arts through their scholastic and creative endeavors, engaging with faculty who are among the world’s leaders in their respective fields, including several who are drawn from the nearby New York Philharmonic and Philadelphia Orchestra. Students benefit from proximity to these two cultural hubs, with ensembles regularly performing in such venues as the Blue Note Jazz Club, Lincoln Center, and Carnegie Hall.

Mason Gross School of the Arts, a vibrant community of artists and scholars with academic programs in music, theater, dance, filmmaking, and art & design, is committed to pursuing excellence, innovation, and inclusivity. Its 1,200 students reflect the diversity of New Jersey, the fourth most diverse state in the nation. In addition to its professional arts training programs, Mason Gross provides the larger community an opportunity to embrace the creative arts through its divisions of Rutgers Arts Online and Rutgers Community Arts. The school is housed within Rutgers–New Brunswick, a premier Big Ten research university that serves some 35,000 students and is the flagship campus of Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. The nation’s eighth oldest institution of higher learning, Rutgers is less than an hour by train or car to New York City and the beautiful beaches of the Jersey Shore and just over an hour to Philadelphia.
Additional information is available at the school website: Statement Mason Gross School of the Arts is deeply committed to the pursuit of equity, diversity, inclusion, and access and especially encourages applications from women, underrepresented minorities, and other individuals who belong to groups that have been historically underrepresented or marginalized within higher education and the arts. Also see the Rutgers Non-Discrimination Statement at the following web address:

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