Assistant/Associate Professor of Theatre Design and Technology

     
Teach a full array of theatrical design and technology courses as well as theater courses in the general education curriculum. Develop Scenic and/or lighting designs for 3-4 fully staged productions per year. Advise and mentor student designers in scenery, lighting, properties/crafts, painting, and other areas of specialization. Integrate computer aided design programs and technology in all aspects of academic and production programming. Provide academic and career advising and mentoring of students in various areas of interest. Participate in weekly department and production meetings (averaging 3+ hours per week), as well as monthly company meetings. Participate in annual academic and artistic assessments of all student company members. Participate in theatre program entry auditions and interviews. Assist with recruitment of students, especially in the areas of design and technology. Train and supervise production running crews in the areas of lighting, sound, and props. Other department and production company assignments shared by all faculty and staff. The standard teaching load for all full time faculty is 21 credits per academic year, as indicated in UWPF policy.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

Teaching:

Teach a full array of theatrical design and technology courses as well as theater courses in the general education curriculum.
Courses include but are not limited to:
Stagecraft, Scenic Design, Problems in Scenic Design, Principles in Theatrical Design, Introduction to Stage Lighting, Problems in Stage Lighting, Theatre Appreciation and potentially other theatre general education courses, including Multicultural Theater in America and Gender and Sexuality on Stage and Screen, Contribute to Sophomore and Senior Seminar classes in areas of expertise. Other theatrical design and technology courses in areas of expertise including scenic painting, properties, and computer aided design.

Research/Design:

• Scenic and/or lighting designs for 3-4 fully staged productions per year.
• Supervise and mentor student and staff designers in the research, design, constructions, and completion of all scenery, lighting, sound, and props design and execution for departmental productions.

Advisory:

• Advising and mentoring of student designers in scenery, lighting, props, scenic painting and other areas of specialization.
• Academic and career advising and mentoring of students.
• Participate in weekly department and production meetings, as well as monthly company meetings.
• Participate in annual academic and artistic assessments of company members.
• Participate in program entry auditions and interviews.
• Assist with recruitment of students, especially in the areas of design and technology.
• Serve as company production coordinator, supervising scheduling and budgeting for production season.
• Train and supervise production running crews in the areas of stage running, lighting, sound, and props.

 

Service:

• Assist with various theater service projects, including outreach to local high schools, community theatres, and professional theatres.
• Assist with building active professional connections with professional theatres in the region and nationwide.
• Assist with the department’s active recruitment, providing additional support in recruiting students in the area of theatrical design and technology.
• Actively participate in the program entry auditions/interview process, and annual academic and artistic assessment programs.
• Assist with house management and supervision responsibilities for performances, as shared by all theatre faculty members.
• Serve on various university committees as assigned.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

 

Required Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Considerable knowledge of computer design capabilities in Vectorworks and/or AutoCAD and drawing and painting programs such as Photoshop/Illustrator and other emerging computer programs in design and technology.
• Ability to supervise all theatrical design students in the areas of scenic, lighting, properties design; supervise the production aspects of all scenery, lighting, and properties designs created for departmental theatre productions; supervise, advise, and mentor students in the areas of theatrical design and technology within the person’s area of expertise; assist with the supervision of the operations of the UW-Parkside Theatre Arts Scene shop as needed.
• Considerable knowledge of woodworking equipment (including, but not limited to power tools [table saws, drills, radial arm/chop saws, circular saws, jig/sabre saws, pneumatic staplers and brad guns, etc.] all forms of manual tools), metal working equipment (welders, saws, etc.), painting equipment including spray guns, lighting control boards and lighting instruments; paints, paint solvents, dyes, thermal plastics, foam casting materials, adhesives, spray paint, lamp dip (dyes), etc…
• Ability to work closely with the Artistic Director in the distribution and management of funds related to the production costs for scenery, lighting, sound, and props. 

 

Ability to work closely with the administrative program assistant in theatre’s accounts payable and receivable office to ensure accurate bookkeeping is maintained.  This position will make regular reports to the department chair and entire faculty and staff regarding budgetary matters.  

 

Qualifications:


Required:

• MFA in design (scenery and/or lighting essential)
• Significant successful undergraduate teaching experience in areas of expertise
• Professional design experience in areas of expertise, scenery and/or lighting design
• Previous experience in academic and design advising and mentoring of undergraduate students in a liberal arts or comparable theatre arts programs.
• For appointment at the Associate rank, the applicant must demonstrate proof of significant continued development and work as an educator and/or professional designer as deemed appropriate by the department.

 

Preferred: 

• Budgeting and production management experience
• Ability to teach , advise, and mentor students in other related design/technology areas
• Experience in teaching Theatre Appreciation and/or other theatre general education courses in such areas as Multicultural Theatre in American or Gender and Sexuality on Stage and Screen.

 

Salary:


Salary is commensurate with qualifications and experience. The University of Wisconsin System provides a benefits package, including participation in a state pension plan.


The University:

The University of Wisconsin-Parkside is committed to academic excellence, student success, diversity and inclusiveness, and community engagement. UW-Parkside grants bachelor's and master's degrees in more than 30 academic programs and currently enrolls 5,200 students, many of whom are first-generation and nontraditional. UW-Parkside is the most ethnically diverse campus in the University of Wisconsin System with more than 22% students of color and 19% faculty and instructional staff of color. UW-Parkside benefits from the cultural diversity of the communities it serves in southeast Wisconsin. Located in northern Kenosha County in the Chicago-Milwaukee urban corridor, much of the university’s 700-acre campus has been preserved in its natural wooded and prairie state.

Review of Applications:

Applications received by December 12th, 2011 are ensured full consideration; position is open until filled.


To Apply:
Interested candidates should submit the following, preferably in electronic format:

• a cover letter outlining your qualifications for the position
• curriculum vitae

representative samples of the range of styles and scope of your design experience.  Full portfolios will be requested as needed.

• three letters of recommendations including the contact information from persons who are willing to serve as references and who can attest to the qualifications required for this position

 

Email submissions:     liantoni@uwp.edu
Mail submissions:  attention Brandi Liantonio, Search Committee, Theatre Arts Department, University of Wisconsin-Parkside, P.O. Box 2000, Kenosha, WI 53141-2000.

UW-Parkside is an AA/EEO employer