Department: Family and Human Services

Campus Location: Washburn University

Application Deadline:  Application review will begin as applications are received and will continue until the position is filled. Applicants can be assured of full consideration if submitted by November 23, 2025.

Position Summary:

Washburn University's Family and Human Services Department invites applications for an Assistant/Associate Professor to begin August 2026. This is a 9 month, tenure-track position.

Each selected candidate will have a demonstrated commitment to pursuing teaching excellence at Washburn University, including a dedication to developing inclusive teaching practices that engage all learners.

The Family and Human Services Department is part of the School of Applied Studies at Washburn University. It offers an undergraduate emphasis in Family Services, which is approved by the National Council on Family Relations (NCFR). The curriculum emphasis in Addiction Counseling is approved by both the organization for addiction professionals (NAADAC) and the Kansas Behavioral Sciences Regulatory Board (KSBSRB) at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Students can choose to pursue certificate programs within the Family and Human Services Department to study specialty areas such as Trauma and Recovery Services, Addiction Counseling, Non-Profit Management, and Gerontology.

About Washburn University: 

Washburn University is a teaching-focused, student-centered, public institution located in the metropolitan setting of Topeka that has earned national recognition for its high-impact programs for first-generation students. Washburn has a student body of over 5,500 undergraduate, graduate, and law students, a significant and growing number of whom are first-generation and Pell-Grant eligible. The University has created educational pathways for all students to be successful and achieve their educational goals.

Washburn is dedicated to recruiting and retaining a dynamic faculty, staff, and student body and cultivating a robust learning and working environment and curriculum. We employ more than one thousand faculty and staff on our campuses throughout Topeka and strive to offer competitive wages, an excellent benefits program, and a supportive culture and a healthy work/life balance. Washburn seeks to create an environment that reflects our core values for creating positive IMPACT: inclusion, modernization, partnership, achievement, community and transformation. In 2024, Washburn was recognized as one of the best colleges in the nation to work for, according to Great Colleges to Work For® program.

Essential Functions:
• Fulfill teaching expectations associated with a tenure-track appointment. Teach 12 credit hours per semester (either in-person or online, according to departmental needs) or equivalent full workload as outlined in the faculty handbook.
• Teach and develop undergraduate and graduate classes and seminars as assigned and as dependent upon department needs, which may include topics on mental health, addiction, gerontology, trauma, non-profit management, human growth and development, and/or families across the lifespan.
• Fulfill service expectations associated with tenure-track appointment by engaging in service activities in the department, school, university, community and profession.
• Fulfill scholarship expectations associated with a tenure-track appointment.
• Attend departmental, school, and university faculty meetings.
• Advise students according to their degree plan and career interests.
• Perform additional job-related duties as assigned or as appropriate.

Required Qualifications:
• Doctoral degree in a Family and Human Services-related field (family and human services, social work, psychology, marriage and family therapy, counseling, etc.); ABD applicants will be considered, with completion of the doctoral degree by June 1, 2027.
• Licensed in Kansas through the Behavioral Science Regulatory Board (BSRB) as one of the following: LMAC, LMFT, LMLP, LP, LPC, LMSW (Clinical levels of each of these licenses also meet this requirement).
• Demonstrated dedication to developing inclusive teaching practices that engage all learners.
• Experience in research, teaching, or providing services in at least one of the following areas: mental health, addiction, gerontology, trauma, human growth and development, non-profit management, families across the lifespan, etc.
• Demonstrated dedication to developing inclusive teaching practices that engage all learners.
• Official educational transcripts required at the time of hire.

Preferred Qualifications:
• Post-secondary teaching experience.
• Experience using learning management systems (e.g., D2L, Blackboard, Canvas) for online education as an instructor.
• Certificate in Family Life Education (CFLE) with the National Council on Family Relations (NCFR).

About Washburn University

Washburn University is a teaching-focused, student-centered, public institution located in the metropolitan setting of Topeka that has earned national recognition for its high-impact programs for first-generation students. Washburn has a student body of over 5,500 undergraduate, graduate, and law students, a significant and growing number of whom are first-generation and Pell-Grant eligible. The University has created educational pathways for all students to be successful and achieve their educational goals. Washburn is dedicated to recruiting and retaining a dynamic faculty, staff, and student body and cultivating a robust learning and working environment and curriculum. We employ more than one thousand faculty and staff on our campuses throughout Topeka and strive to offer competitive wages, an excellent benefits program, and a supportive culture and a healthy work/life balance. Washburn seeks to create an environment that reflects our core values for creating positive IMPACT: inclusion, modernization, partnership, achievement, community and transformation. In 2024, Washburn was recognized as one of the best colleges in the nation to work for, according to Great Colleges to Work For® program..

Connections working at Washburn University