Assistant Professor/Director of Choirs

Position Title: Assistant Professor/Director of Choirs

Department: Music

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: April 24, 2025.

Position Summary: Washburn University’s Department of Music invites applications for the position of Director of Choirs. The position will begin August 1, 2025. This position is a nine-month, tenure-track appointment as Assistant Professor. A completed doctorate is necessary for tenure-track appointment.

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.

Washburn University is a teaching-focused, student-centered, public institution that has earned national recognition for its high-impact programs for first-generation students and that is located in the metropolitan setting of Topeka. 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 education 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:
• Serve as director of the Washburn University Choral Program.
• Fulfill teaching expectations associated with tenure-track appointment. Teach 12-hours per semester (either in-person or online, according to departmental needs) or equivalent full workload as outlined in the faculty handbook.
• Teach music courses assigned to fit the successful applicant’s qualifications, including courses in choral conducting, vocal pedagogy and literature, applied voice, and courses for non-majors.
• Maintain an active role in the recruitment and retention of music students.
• Maintain a public profile as a teacher and conductor.
• Work with voice faculty to develop community youth programs.
• Fulfill service expectations associated with tenure-track appointment .
• Perform additional job-related duties as assigned or as appropriate.

Required Qualifications:
• Doctorate in music; ABD applicants will be considered with completion of doctorate by August 1, 2026.
• Experience in conducting and rehearsing university vocal ensembles.
• Classroom teaching experience at the university level.
• Demonstrated dedication to developing inclusive teaching practices that engage all learners.
• Official educational transcripts are required at the time of hire.

Preferred Qualifications:
• Experience with planning, organizing and directing all choral/vocal activities at the university level.
• Experience teaching music at the secondary level in public education.
• Experience with diverse and non-traditional choral literature, including contemporary music and other popular idioms.
• Experience with innovative and non-traditional vocal ensembles.
• Experience with organizing and developing community youth choral programs.
• Experience teaching applied voice at the university level.
• Demonstrated ability to recruit and teach both major and non-major vocalists.

Special Instructions to Applicants: Please upload the following items as a PDF to the “additional document” field via the electronic application: letter of application and links to teaching and performance videos completed within the last 5 years. Contact information for three current professional references will be collected as part of the application form.
If you have any questions about the position, please contact Dr. Joey DeSota at joseph.desota@washburn.edu.  

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