Academic Unit Head, Physics & Astronomy

Working Title: Academic Unit Head, Physics & Astronomy 

State Role Title: N/A

Position Type: Instructional / Teaching Faculty

Position Status: Full-Time

 

College/Division: College of Science and Mathematics

Department: 100032 - Physics Department

 

Pay Rate: Commensurate with Experience

Specify Range or Amount:

 

Is this a JMU only position? No

Is this a grant-funded position? No

Is this a Conflict of Interest designated position? N/A

 

Beginning Review Date: 11/01/2024

 

About JMU:

Mission
We are a community committed to preparing students to be educated and enlightened citizens who lead productive and meaningful lives.

Vision
To be the national model for the engaged university: engaged with ideas and the world.

Who We Are
Located in the heart of Virginia’s beautiful Shenandoah Valley, the city of Harrisonburg is approximately 120 miles from Washington, D.C. and Richmond, VA. With a population of just over 53,000, Harrisonburg is one of the most diverse communities in the Commonwealth of Virginia. JMU is a selective, public institution with a growing national reputation for offering experiences that lead to an outstanding education and inclusive environment for students, faculty and staff. The student body includes approximately 20,000 undergraduate and 1,900 graduate students, with over 1,000 full-time instructional faculty.

JMU offers thriving programs in the liberal arts, science and technology, and professional disciplines at the undergraduate, master’s and doctoral levels. The university is committed to expanding diversity, fostering equity and inclusion, and supporting superlative teaching and scholarship. JMU has achieved national recognition for the high quality of its academic programs, focus on maintaining strong student/faculty interaction, and innovative faculty research.

 

General Information:

James Madison University (JMU) invites applications for the position of Academic Unit Head (AUH) of the Department of Physics & Astronomy, to begin July 1, 2025.

Application review will begin November 1, 2024, and the position is open until filled.

The Department of Physics & Astronomy at JMU resides within the College of Science and Mathematics (CSM). We offer bachelor’s degrees in physics for approximately 90 majors in our multi-track baccalaureate-only program, as well as minors in physics and astronomy. In addition, we support the interdisciplinary minors in materials science, robotics, and data analytics, and the recruitment of and curriculum for training future physics teachers. Courses in our department enroll 3300 undergraduate students per academic year with 85% of credit hours taught in service to other STEM-H disciplines and JMU’s general education program.

Our 22 full-time and 10 part time/adjunct faculty members engage in teaching and research in the areas of Astronomy/Astrophysics, Materials Science, Nuclear/Particle Physics, Computational Physics, Theory, and Soft Condensed Matter. Our faculty are supported by 2 full-time Administrative & Professional faculty and 1 classified staff member. We have additional support in grant administration, scientific computing, and media design available within the CSM. Major facilities in our department include: the 72 seat John C. Wells Planetarium with its hybrid digital and optical projection systems; the Madison Accelerator Lab, which is a user-research facility and a laboratory member of the Association for Research at University Nuclear Accelerators; a class 10000 cleanroom and research grade materials characterization instrumentation shared with the Center for Materials Science. Use privileges on High Performance Computing infrastructure are available to all departmental and college faculty and their students. Please see Additional Information below for more on the department.

 

Duties and Responsibilities:

The AUH is responsible for the administration and overall effectiveness of the academic unit, including its academic programs, scholarship, faculty, classified personnel, budget, and resources. The AUH will lead the department within a student-centered research university that continues its long-standing emphasis on excellence in undergraduate teaching. The strategic goals of the department are aligned with JMU