Description
Teaching Assistant Professor of Interior Architecture and Design (non-tenure track)
University of Arkansas, Fay Jones School of Architecture + Design,
Department of Interior Architecture and Design
POSITION
The Department of Interior Architecture and Design at the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design, University of Arkansas, seeks an individual interested in leading innovative and transdisciplinary approaches to teaching. The successful candidate will join a vibrant team of faculty in a department growing in stature and national recognition to forge a rich culture of thinking and making within the existing professional undergraduate curriculum.
The Fay Jones School's emphasis on collaborative design education is aimed at preparing students to address contemporary challenges and issues of imperative value to the state, nation and world. The school has diverse resources available in its award-winning building and state-of-the-art fabrication facilities. The U of A Community Design Center, Garvan Woodland Gardens, and the Anthony Timberlands Center for Design and Material Innovation by the Pritzker Architecture Prize winner Grafton Architects, provide for a range of teaching and scholarship activities. There also are opportunities to take advantage of the School's external relationships with institutions and programs such as the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, the Momentary, and the Walton Arts Center.
RESPONSIBILITIES
Teaching Assistant Professor (1-year): Teaching at the undergraduate level and providing service to the department, school, university, and community are foundational expectations. Instructing 18-22 credit hours of coursework per academic year with an assignment of two studios, or one studio and two lectures/seminars per semester is required. The faculty member will lead studio and classroom instruction, create curriculum material, construct syllabi, assess student knowledge and skills, advise students, and provide other scholastic achievement guidance. The full-time nine-month position is intended to be awarded for a period of one academic year with potential for additional teaching in the summer.
The department, school, and university are committed to developing long-term relationships with faculty. The teaching-track positions have a structured promotion system that can foster movement from Assistant to Associate to Full Teaching Professor. The school has a strong track record of supporting teaching-track faculty throughout many years of their teaching careers.
Interested candidates are invited to submit their qualifications. Individuals with a wide and varied range of design practices, creative interests, professional experiences, and from allied design professions and disciplines, who are interested in operating in an educational capacity and can demonstrate significant engagement with interior architecture and design, are encouraged to apply. This position may provide a pathway for experienced design professionals to share their expertise with students through engaging lectures, innovative curriculum development, and active mentoring. Fostering collaborative and interdisciplinary initiatives, mentoring students, and creating connections between the classroom and professional practice are welcome.
SALARY + RANK
Competitive and commensurate with qualifications and experience.
INTERIOR ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN DEPARTMENT
Established 50 years ago, the Interior Architecture and Design Department has more than 280 undergraduate students and a faculty with broad based, scholarly research accomplishment and strong professional practice experience. Graduates have a very strong employment rate at nationally and internationally recognized design firms. The CIDA-accredited professional program requires and provides high-quality international education and cross-disciplinary studio experiences.
Overarching values guiding the faculty are a commitment to a rigorous team-taught, process-driven design education, integration of research/creative activity into classroom teaching, assimilation of teamwork skills by our students, emphasis on inclusive environments, and the realization of sustainable design solutions. Students develop strong conceptual, spatial design and technical skills through experimentation, discovery, iteration, and invention.
Required practice-based internships in locations across the US and internationally build relationships between students and potential employers and produce sophisticated graduates capable of performing in a wide range of creative contexts. A supportive professional advisory board includes successful design leaders from across the country and assists the Department in achieving its goals and promoting the program.
International education; regular studio-based field trips to national urban centers; transdisciplinary collaboration; minors in sustainability, business, hospitality, architecture history and theory, preservation design and urban planning; and graduate concentrations enrich students' creative expression, deepen knowledge bases and cultural awareness, and build critical thinking skills. Student creativity and competency have been evidenced in the recent awarding of eight national Donghia scholarships, two Gensler-Brinkmann Scholarships, and the 2024 National ASID portfolio competition, as well as numerous ASID student design awards. Please visit our website for additional information about our Department of Interior Architecture and Design.
FAY JONES SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE + DESIGN AND COMMUNITY
The Fay Jones School includes highly regarded accredited professional programs in architecture, interior architecture and design and landscape architecture. Together, these programs provide a collaborative design education aimed at preparing students to address complex challenges and issues of imperative value to the state, nation and world.
International education is provided for all students in established programs in Rome, and European departmental programs in a wide variety of locations. These opportunities introduce students to interior environments, buildings, cities and landscapes very different from their own, enriching their design vocabulary and deepening their understanding of other cultures. A rigorous Honors program within the School engages exceptional students in experiential education that deepens classroom learning. The school's honors curriculum targets students interested in independent exploration of topics related to the natural and built environment.
Students benefit further from diverse and committed alumni, a vibrant professional network, and the voices of leading design thinkers from around the globe. A robust lecture and growing workshop series bring nationally and internationally known practitioners, artists, authors and educators to the campus to share their projects and philosophies with students and faculty in all disciplines. Our existing professional and industry relationships and over 3000 alumni provide a robust professional network along with opportunities regionally and internationally.
The Fay Jones School is located in Vol Walker Hall and the Steven L Anderson Design Center, an award-winning addition and renovation that affords exemplary learning environments for students, and an outstanding teaching and working facility for faculty and staff. Completed in 2013, the building has received numerous accolades including a 2018 AIA Honor Award for the work completed by Marlon Blackwell Architects and Polk Stanley Wilcox Architects. The School’s state-of-the-art resources in computational design and design robotics as well as fabrication labs inform student and faculty making and design processes. The facility includes a Multimedia Center, Design Shop, Maker Lab, Materials Lab, exhibition gallery, and related lecture hall, classrooms and seminar spaces. Additionally, off-campus maker spaces, the U of A Community Design Center, and the Garvan Woodland Gardens in Hot Springs expand teaching and research opportunities for both students and faculty.
The developing Art and Design District features the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design’s award-winning and newly opened 44,763-square-foot Anthony Timberlands Center for Design and Materials Innovation. It houses resources including classrooms, studios, seminar and conference spaces, and a flexible lecture hall and gallery space, atop a double-height, state-of-the-art, 11,000-square-foot fabrication and design-build shop floor for a range of teaching and scholarship activities. The University of Arkansas’ School of Art’s Studio + Design Center and Sculpture Building are also located in this District. The School of Art offers degrees in art education, art history, ceramics, drawing, graphic design, painting, photography, printmaking, and sculpture including a Master of Fine Arts.
The School is located in a rich architecture and design community. The work of Fay Jones and Edward
Durrell Stone, along with the mid-century body of work found in the nearby region, establishes our historic design legacy. The contemporary work of Marlon Blackwell Architects, Modus Studio, Marvel Architects, Wheeler Kearns Architects, Ecological Design Group, and Nelson Byrd Woltz, contribute to the distinctive regional and national dialogue about contemporary design.
In addition to outstanding architecture and design, there is an abiding commitment to the visual and performing arts. Northwest Arkansas is home to the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, The Momentary, 21C Museum Hotel, Scott Family Amazeum, Walton Arts Center, Theater Squared, Arkansas Music Pavilion, and a host of nationally recognized art, music, and food venues enhancing quality of life for students and families. Nicknamed the Natural State, Arkansas boasts diverse outdoor activities in settings that include forest lands, limestone caves, rivers, and lakes protected in nearby state and national parks and wilderness areas.
Business diversity contributes to the economic vitality of the region. There are seven Fortune 500 companies located in Northwest Arkansas with Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, being the most notable. Additionally, more than 300 additional Fortune 500 companies have located satellite offices in the area. Entrepreneurs find equal ground, further diversifying this business environment. DataFox names Fayetteville the third best place to start a business.
Please visit our website for additional information about the Fay Jones School.
UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS
Founded in 1871 as a land grant institution, the University of Arkansas is classified by the Carnegie Foundation among the top two percent of universities in the nation with the highest level of research activity. Ten colleges and schools serve more than 33,600 students with more than 200 academic programs. University of Arkansas students earn nationally competitive awards at an impressive rate and represent 50 states and more than 120 countries.
Located in the stunning Ozark Mountains of Northwest Arkansas, Fayetteville is home to the University of Arkansas campus, known for its spectacular views and ample green spaces. Fayetteville is considered one of the country’s finest college towns, and the surrounding northwest Arkansas region is regularly ranked one of the best places to live in the U.S. Some of the nation’s best outdoor amenities and most spectacular hiking and mountain-biking trails are within a short distance of campus.
As an employer, the University of Arkansas offers a vibrant work environment and a workplace culture that promotes a healthy work-life balance. The benefits package includes university contributions to health, dental, life and disability insurance, tuition waivers for employees and their families, 12 official holidays, immediate leave accrual, and a choice of retirement programs with university contributions ranging from 5 to 10% of employee salary.
APPLICATION
Initial review of applications will begin on January 5, 2026. Later applications will be accepted and reviewed as necessary to fill the position.
Please include the following:
1. Curriculum Vitae
2. Letter of Interest (2-page maximum)
The letter should clearly describe the candidate's:
- interest in the Fay Jones School, Interior Architecture and Design Department
- vision of interior design education and practice
- approach to teaching and design
- academic and professional experience
3. Names, titles, and contact information for three references (include email, telephone, and nature of association)
4. List of previous courses taught with roles, responsibilities, and work samples (if applicable)
5. Portfolio (20 page maximum) in PDF format or website link with select images of recent and relevant:
- professional, scholarly, and/or creative work with associated project descriptions
- student work completed under direction of applicant with associated project descriptions
Please clarify your role in the portfolio submission for collaborative projects.
Application materials must be uploaded to the U of A's employment system
at https://uasys.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/UASYS/job/Fayetteville/Teaching-Assistant-Professor-of-Interior-Architecture-and-Design--Two-Open-Positions-_R0079427-1
(Do not send application materials to Search Committee Chair.)
Portfolios must be uploaded to the U of A’s online cloud storage, uark.box.com
Once you complete your job application, you will receive an email in one to two business days with a link to upload your portfolio materials to uark.box.com. For questions or assistance with uploading your materials, or if you do not receive a link to upload your portfolio in one to two business days, please contact Human Resources at (479) 575-5351. Note: If your portfolio is not uploaded, you will not be considered for the position.
Note: Official transcripts will be required from finalists.
Search Committee Chair: Kimberley Furlong, Associate Professor of Interior Architecture and Design, kfurlong@uark.edu (Do not send application materials to Search Committee Chair.)
The University of Arkansas is an equal opportunity institution. The University does not discriminate in its education programs or activities (including in admission and employment) on the basis of any category or status protected by law, including age, race, color, national origin, disability, religion, protected veteran status, military service, genetic information, sex, sexual orientation, or pregnancy. Questions or concerns about the application of Title IX, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, may be sent to the University’s Title IX Coordinator and to the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights.
Persons must have proof of legal authority to work in the United States on the first day of employment.
All Application information is subject to public disclosure under the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act.
Requirements
QUALIFICATIONS
With submitted materials, the candidate must demonstrate the following.
Minimum
- Terminal graduate degree in interior design / interior architecture, or design-related discipline
- Excellent body of creative and technical design work
- Excellent writing and interpersonal communication skills
Preferred
- One or more degrees in interior design / interior architecture
- Ability to employ current best teaching practices leading studios and lectures/seminars
- Ability to address issues of contemporary design-inquiry teaching studios and lectures/seminars
- Experience with emerging technologies, digital fabrication, BIM, VR, AI and/or visualization
- Ability to teach digitally integrated and comprehensive design studios
- Professional practice experience designing interior space
- NCIDQ certification (or the qualifications and willingness to complete the exam)
Note: Uniquely qualified candidates with strength in areas other than those listed as “preferred”, and ABD candidates, will be considered.
Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities
- Ability to be an active, involved, collegial member of a collaborative studio teaching team and willingness to be a team player with departmental faculty
- Willingness and ability to advocate for interior architecture and design specific education and professional practice
