Joseph W. and Alma W. Keilty Chair in Education (School Mental Health Focus)

Area of focus: School-based mental health and wellbeing, with emphasis on historically marginalized populations.

The University of Massachusetts Amherst College of Education is seeking qualified candidates for the new Joseph W. and Alma W. Keilty Chair in Education join the dedicated and accomplished community of faculty, students, and staff in the Student Development Department within the College of Education.

We share a fundamental commitment to educational equity and the pursuit of educational excellence and orient ourselves around our mission of education for a socially just world. Located in the beautiful Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts, the University of Massachusetts Amherst is a leading center of public higher education in the Northeast.

Our newly launched campus-wide strategic plan calls for our campus community to engage in work “for the common good,” and outlines a mission focused on inclusive and equitable well-being. As the flagship public land-grant university of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, our mission is to expand educational access, fuel innovation and creativity, and share and use our knowledge for the betterment of the world. With certitude, we embrace our responsibility to advance the inclusive and equitable well-being of all people and the health of our planet.

Aligned with this mission, and with our involvement in the Okanagan Well-Being Collective (https://www.umass.edu/wellbeing/), we are seeking applicants whose work focuses on well-being and mental health in pk-12 educational settings. Ideal candidates will contribute to our well-established training programs in School Psychology and School Counselor Education, and place an emphasis on supporting historically marginalized populations. Candidates may also affiliate themselves with any of seven research centers within our College (https://www.umass.edu/education/research). Ideal candidates will specialize in areas such as provision of psychological and counseling services and mental health assessment in a multi-tiered system of support, social-emotional outcomes and interventions, teacher well-being, positive psychology practices, healing-centered pedagogy, positive behavioral supports, school-based practices that address racialized trauma, systemic consultation focused on teacher and student mental health, and partnerships with families and communities. We will prioritize scholars who examine the intersections between psychological, cultural, environmental, and policy factors, using an ecological and solution-focused framework. We will seek scholars who operate from a social justice orientation and whose work seeks to advance equitable educational opportunities. 

Successful candidates will have a strong publication record, demonstrate a systematic line of research, exhibit evidence of ability to procure external funding, and have experience and interest in mentoring and supervising graduate students and early career faculty in their research endeavors. This position will receive ongoing support from the Keilty endowment for this research line related to school mental health.

This position will include opportunities to teach graduate students in our APA-approved doctoral and NASP-approved Ed.S. programs in School Psychology, in our Ed.S. program in School Counselor Education, and undergraduate students in our popular Community Education and Social Change major. Interested candidates may also supervise graduate student field-based experiences related to supporting mental health in school and community settings.

https://careers.umass.edu/en-us/job/526577/joseph-w-and-alma-w-keilty-chair-in-education