Careers in Quality

The School of Public Health (SPH) at The University of North Texas Health Science Center (HSC), since our founding in 1999, has focused on eliminating health inequities and improving the quality and conditions of life by providing critically needed public health education and research for our communities in North Texas and beyond. We are a values-driven organization with a deep commitment to diversity, integrity, respect and serving others first. For more information on SPH https://www.unthsc.edu/school-of-public-health/

The School of Public Health (SPH) at The University of North Texas Health Science Center (HSC) seeks a visionary, entrepreneurial and transformative leader to serve as the inaugural Chair of its new Department of Population and Community Health.

Reporting to the SPH Dean, Dr. Shafik Dharamsi, and working collaboratively with a diverse and interdisciplinary team of faculty, staff and students, the ideal candidate will serve as a strategic thought partner to foster a culture of innovation and social entrepreneurship, nurture high-impact educational practices, support the development of a transformative research agenda to address health inequities, and cultivate multi-sectoral partnerships to address population and community health needs.

Among the Chair’s core responsibilities will be to help develop and advance “SPH 2030,” the School of Public Health’s new strategic plan, with an emphasis on advancing health equity.

Responsibilities:

1. Leadership:

• Provide transformative leadership, working collaboratively with the SPH Dean, faculty, staff, students and internal and external partners and stakeholders to develop strategic priorities for the Department in alignment with the overall mission, vision and goals of the SPH and emerging trends within the field of public health.
• Oversee the administrative functions of the Department, ensuring efficient, transparent, fiscally responsible and sustainable operations while adhering to HSC and SPH policies and regulations in a shared-governance environment.
• Help develop, support and implement a strategic, data-informed enrollment growth plan and lead marketing and recruitment efforts to meet current and future public health workforce needs.
• Attract, recruit, mentor and retain faculty and staff who are high-performing, solutions-oriented and mission-driven and who bring a diversity of lived experiences.
• Represent the Department in school-wide leadership meetings, committees and external engagements, advocating for SPH interests and contributing to organizational decision-making processes.
• Establish collaborations and joint programs with HSC Centers and Institutes and UNT System campuses – Dallas, Denton and Frisco.
• Cultivate strong relationships with alumni, friends and donors of SPH and HSC and support fundraising activities.
• Serve as a visible exemplar of engaged, facilitative, constructive, high-performing, entrepreneurial and optimistic academic citizenship within SPH and across HSC.

2. Academic, Teaching, Research and Service Excellence:

• Contribute to curricular evolution in alignment with accreditation criteria in the preparation of a public health workforce that is competent and community-centric, with the capabilities to address social and structural determinants and related disparities in health outcomes through transformative population and community health efforts.
• Stay abreast of emerging developments and promising practices in public health education, research and service that is responsive to health inequities, fostering the Department’s reputation as a thought leader in the field. Recruit, mentor and support a diverse body of talented faculty, fostering their professional growth and promoting excellence in teaching, research/scholarly activity, public health consultancies and community service to address public health challenges.
• Support a culture of educational excellence, enabling faculty, staff and students to engage in high-impact, evidence-based pedagogical practices.
• Establish a culture of intellectual curiosity, critical thinking, community engagement and inter-/trans-disciplinary research collaboration, securing external funding through grants, contracts and consultancies and disseminating results widely to academic and public audiences.
• Help advance efforts around participatory research and implementation science to narrow the knowledge-to-practice gap, build interventions that address population and community health needs and support the translational and implementation science activity into policy and practice, resulting in direct societal benefits toward advancing health equity.
• Mentor graduate students and early-career faculty, teach, obtain external funding and support SPH’s emphasis on advancing health equity.

3. Collaborative Partnerships and Community Engagement:

• Advocate for and help advance the development of collaborative, health equity-focused community partnerships to enhance the relevance and practicality of the Department’s programs and faculty efforts in addressing health disparities.
• Support and help advance the development of opportunities for multi-sectoral partnerships to foster opportunities for public health internships, consultancies and experiential learning initiatives that provide students, faculty and staff with real-world exposure and impact.

As a full-time employee, you can enjoy a robust benefits package  including:

• tuition benefits
• paid time off plus paid holidays
• 100% state-paid medical insurance premium for eligible employees and 50% premium paid for eligible dependents
• State of Texas retirement and optional plans

Minimum Qualifications:

• An earned doctorate in public health or a related field.
• A distinguished record of high-impact, evidence-based educational practices.
• A distinguished record of externally funded research/scholarship and associated achievements in areas related to public health and health equity.
• Proven leadership experience in an academic setting, with a track record of cultivating and leading faculty, student and staff success, program evaluation, change management and inclusive environments in a high-performing, results-oriented culture.
• Accomplishments that qualify for a tenured faculty appointment.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Senior faculty member with a record of fostering evidence-based educational practices, implementation and team science, and health equity related activities.
• Administrative experience, preferably at the level of department chair or equivalent.

The University of North Texas System and its component institutions are committed to equal opportunity and comply with all applicable federal and state laws regarding nondiscrimination and affirmative action. The University of North Texas System and its component institutions do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, religion, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, or veteran status in its application and admission processes, educational programs and activities, and employment practices.

About University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth

Welcome to the University of North Texas System. UNT System includes the University of North Texas in Denton, the University of North Texas at Dallas and the University of North Texas Health Science Center in Fort Worth. We are the only university system based exclusively in the robust Dallas-Fort Worth region and we are committed to transforming lives and creating economic opportunity through education. We are growing with the DFW region, enrolling a record 47,000+ students across our system and awarding nearly 12,000 degrees each year.

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