Associate/Full Professor and Department Head (Political Science)

Location: Prairie View, Texas, United States; full-time faculty position beginning Fall 2027.

Salary: Commensurate with education and experience within the assigned university salary range.

Company

Prairie View A&M University is a public university with a College of Public Affairs & Societal Impact and a newly established Department of Political Science.

What you will do

• Lead the department’s strategic vision, goals, assessment processes, and academic planning.
• Direct curriculum development, program review, continuous improvement, and the creation of new degrees, credentials, and interdisciplinary initiatives.
• Recruit, retain, mentor, and evaluate faculty while supporting teaching, scholarship, service, and community engagement.
• Strengthen student recruitment, retention, graduation outcomes, internships, research, experiential learning, civic engagement, and career preparation.
• Maintain an active externally funded research program and support grants, contracts, fellowships, and faculty-student research collaboration.
• Oversee budgets, personnel, course scheduling, institutional reporting, partnerships, advancement, and the department’s regional and national visibility.

Requirements

• Earned Ph.D. in Political Science or a closely related field from an accredited institution.
• At least three years of progressively responsible academic administrative experience, including comparable department, program, center, or college leadership.
• At least two years of administrative experience.
• Teaching, research, scholarship, and service record meeting university requirements for appointment with tenure at the Associate Professor or Professor rank.
• Evidence of effective leadership skills and eligibility for tenure upon arrival.
• Employment may be affected if immigration sponsorship is required; the university will not pay the $100,000 H-1B fee, and a Texas moratorium may affect new H-1B sponsorship.

Nice to have

• Four or more years of academic administrative or comparable leadership experience.
• Experience leading departmental transformation, strategic planning, curriculum development, academic review, or new credential creation.
• Experience managing academic budgets and using data for planning, assessment, and resource allocation.
• Success in student recruitment, retention, enrollment management, degree completion, and external funding.
• Experience fostering interdisciplinary research and collaboration.

Culture & Benefits

• Opportunity to shape the identity and strategic direction of a newly established department.
• Work with faculty, students, government agencies, nonprofit organizations, educational institutions, alumni, donors, and community partners.
• Support for civic engagement, experiential learning, public impact, research partnerships, and career pathways.
• All positions are security-sensitive and require a criminal history investigation and credential verification.

Hiring process

• Submit an application through the Prairie View A&M University career site.
• Attach a resume or curriculum vitae and a cover letter.
• Applications are accepted until the position is filled.