Assistant Professor of Game Design or Interaction Design

Classification:  Academic Year Faculty
Priority Screening Date:  January 6, 2025
Recruitment Status:  Open Until Filled
Anticipated Start Date:  Fall 2025 

California State University, Monterey Bay is a mid-sized university in California’s Central Coast that grants undergraduate and graduate degrees. Powered by an inspiring Founding Vision Statement, CSUMB is part of the nation’s largest four-year public university system, California State University, which educates nearly 460,000 students every year. 

With a vibrant, diverse student body of over 7,000 students, CSU Monterey Bay is both a Minority Serving Institution and a Hispanic Serving Institution. Our staff and faculty transform students’ lives with a focus on student success and engagement through experiential learning, service learning, and a strong emphasis on multicultural and global perspectives. CSUMB’s sustainability goal is to be carbon neutral by 2030. 

The university’s Strategic Plan prioritizes inclusive excellence through recruiting and investing in developing a diverse body of faculty, staff and administrators. Many appreciate living and working close to the shores of beautiful Monterey Bay, with easy access to recreational areas from Big Sur to Santa Cruz. Nearby opportunities for collaborative research include working in the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary and Silicon Valley, and with colleagues at local research universities, including UC Santa Cruz and Stanford University.

As one of the 23 campuses in the CSU system, CSUMB offers excellent benefits, including access to below-market-rate rental housing on East Campus, and competitive salaries for faculty and staff. With proximity to the San Francisco Bay Area and San Jose, opportunities for faculty, staff and students are as endless as the shores of the nearby Pacific Ocean.

The Communication Design program (CD) in the School of Computing and Design at California State University, Monterey Bay, is seeking qualified applicants for a full-time, tenure-track position in Communication Design at the rank of Assistant Professor. Candidates with expertise in the areas of game and interaction design will be considered. The Communication Design program offers a Bachelor of Science degree and has a heavy focus on screen-based design. Therefore, we seek candidates with advanced technical and digital multimedia skills, supported by a formal degree in game design, interaction design, or a related discipline.

Unlike most design programs typically housed in Fine Arts departments, our Communication Design program, since its inception, is part of the School of Computing & Design within the College of Science. We offer two Concentrations: Game Design and Visual Design. In addition to a strong foundation in design and communication theories, all of our CD students take web programming and UI/UX courses. They graduate with portfolios that demonstrate strong technical, creative, and collaborative skills that prepare them to contribute to the evolving and technologically demanding communication design professions.

We are seeking candidates who are passionate about addressing the challenges and exploring the opportunities facing higher education to join our team which is working on attracting underrepresented, low-income, and first-generation students into the design-related computing fields and supporting them through post-graduation success. Along with their commitment to teaching in the CD program, an ideal candidate will be interested in all aspects of an end-to-end CD pathway to support a diverse student body. This begins with students’ initial interest in design and digital visual communication technologies, and moves through college readiness; teaching high-quality game design courses; co-curricular academic, professional, and personal growth support; internships; and finishing with graduation and careers. The selected faculty will join a cross-disciplinary team, building strength via strong regional collaborations with partner organizations from education, industry, and government.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Teach undergraduate courses in game design, development, interaction design, 3D modeling, and related areas within the Communication Design Program.
• Develop curricula that reflect the latest trends in game design, covering topics like narrative design, game mechanics, interactive media, and virtual reality.
• Lead the design, development, and de