Assistant Professor of Practice bei Texas Tech University

• Contribute to the teaching mission of the department’s undergraduate program and the college’s professional master’s programs.
• Mentor undergraduate students.
• Advise student organizations.
• Develop a record of professional excellence.
• Maintain professional currency in public relations or a closely related strategic communication field.
• Provide service to the department, college, university, and profession.

In addition to the required qualifications, individuals with the following preferred qualifications are strongly encouraged to apply:

• 5+ years of professional experience in applied strategic communication settings.
• A record of successful experience teaching at the university level in public relations or a closely related field in strategic communication.
• Experience teaching across a variety of modalities (face-to-face, online, hybrid).
• Experience mentoring undergraduate student organizations such as PRSSA or related organizations that advance public relations and strategic communication (e.g., International Association for Business Communication).
• Experience advising student teams participating in the Bateman Case Study Competition.
• Potential for establishing industry-academic partnerships.
• A record of community-engaged outreach.

• Curriculum Vitae.
• Cover Letter.
• Teaching Statement.
• Statement of Professional Excellence and Currency.
• Work samples or link to online portfolio.
• Other documents directly related to required qualifications.
• Candidates who are invited for Zoom interviews will be asked for the names of three references. References will not be contacted without notifying the candidate.

The College of Media & Communication (CoMC) (http://www.depts.ttu.edu/comc/) at Texas Tech University serves approximately 2,400 students across its six undergraduate- and five graduate-degree programs. CoMC offers a student-centered learning environment with high standards for teaching and engaged learning, while benefiting from the resources of an R1 research university. College metrics for undergraduate student retention and graduation rates are near the top at Texas Tech across many categories, and CoMC graduate-student enrollment is at record-high levels. In addition to traditional spaces for offices, classrooms, and computer labs, the College’s 120,000-sf building includes an esports lab, student-run agency suite, a commercial-range FM radio station, 2,000 square feet for student organizations and graduate-student offices, and several multimedia production spaces equipped with industry-grade equipment and software. At 13,000 square feet within the building, the CoMC Center for Communication Research (CCR) is the country's premier academic research facility for the study of communication, cognitive and affective processing of information, and media effects. The CCR’s labs and equipment can be used for audience testing, content analysis, experimental surveys, eye-tracking, focus groups, psychophysiological measurements, and robotics/AI integration. The College has rebuilt its research infrastructure and made strategic hires resulting in all-time highs in external funding applications and grant awards. Further strengthening the University’s stable budget environment, state taxpayers in 2023 approved a $3.9 billion research endowment, the Texas University Fund (TUF), that brings $44 million annually to Texas Tech to support faculty research and scholarly/creative activities. Interdisciplinary research strengths across the College’s departments include computational communication, sports communication/media, organizational/corporate communication, and crisis/risk/health communication. Faculty affiliates of the Thomas Jay Harris Institute for Hispanic & International Communication engage in teaching, research and community outreach related to Hispanic and international/intercultural communication (comc.ttu.edu/research/hihic). With strong campus-wide enrollment growth and experienced academic leadership, the College continues an upward trajectory in alignment with the University’s 2025-2030 Strategic Plan, its $1.2 billion comprehensive campaign, and its charted path toward membership eligibility by 2035 in the Association of American Universities (AAU).

In addition to Hispanic and international communication, research strengths among college faculty include strategic, science/health, gaming/AI, leadership, interpersonal/organizational, and political communication as well as social scientific research methods. The college’s Center for Communication Research offers state-of-the-art facilities for studying audience responses to media messages (www.depts.ttu.edu/comc/research/ccr/). The Thomas Jay Harris Institute for Hispanic and International Communication studies and offers programs in Hispanic and international/intercultural communication (comc.ttu.edu/research/hihic).

• A master’s degree in public relations, strategic communication, or a related field, or a combination of work experience and the required number of graduate-level credit hours (18) to teach undergraduate courses in the state of Texas.
• At least 3 years of professional experience in public relations or a closely related strategic communication field.
• Demonstrated commitment to maintaining professional currency.