Assistant Kinesiology Professor
Job no: 551901
Work type: Instructional Faculty - Tenured/Tenure-Track
Location: Sonoma
Categories: Unit 3 - CFA - California Faculty Association, Probationary, Full Time, Faculty - Health Sciences
DEPARTMENT OF KINESIOLOGY
Faculty Employment Opportunity
Job no: 551901
Work type: Instructional Faculty - Tenured/Tenure-Track
Location: Sonoma
Categories: Tenured/Tenure-Track, Full Time, Instructional Faculty - Tenured/Tenure-Track, Unit 3 CFA - California Faculty Association
Department of Kinesiology
(Tenure-Track) Assistant Professor
Starting August 2026
Our Commitment
Sonoma State University is a federally-designated Hispanic Serving Institution, as such we are committed to achieving the goals of equal opportunity and we endeavor to employ faculty and staff reflecting the linguistic, ethnic, and cultural diversity of the region and state.
Guided by our core values as a university: diversity, sustainability, community engagement, and adaptability, Sonoma State University (SSU) offers an education that fosters intellectual, social, and personal growth. SSU is a public liberal arts and sciences university. As the only member of the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges in the state of California, we are committed to preparing students for a life of active citizenship and public service. We have a vibrant campus life characterized by a lively co-curriculum that fosters broad-based intellectual and artistic opportunities in which the campus as a whole is actively engaged.
Sonoma State University is committed to creating a community in which bias and intolerance have no place. It is our expectation that all students, faculty, and staff work together to honor this commitment and hold each other accountable to create an open and inclusive environment.
We are committed to facilitating spaces in which all can grow by building on our students' assets as they explore new knowledge. These efforts include fostering creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, experimentation, empathy, and communication. The successful candidate will be one who can collaborate with faculty, staff, administration, and students to achieve these goals. We are especially interested in candidates committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Faculty Responsibilities
In addition to teaching and scholarship, faculty are expected to engage in service to the University, profession, and community. These responsibilities include: advising students, participation in campus and system-wide communities, maintaining office hours, working collaboratively and productively with colleagues, and participating in traditional academic functions.
Sonoma State is committed to the Teacher/Scholar model and places an emphasis on faculty support of undergraduate research and other professional opportunities for students. Faculty are also expected to foster our commitment to the CSU Graduation Initiative 2025 through excellent teaching, advising, and mentoring. Potential applicants are encouraged to review the University's Reappointment, Tenure, and Promotion Policy. During the first two years of the probationary period the instructional assignment will be reduced by two courses per academic year for probationary faculty members, in order to assist in establishing their programs of research, scholarship, and/or creative activities, and carrying out other activities that would support them in meeting the requirements for retention, tenure, and promotion.. All faculty are required to have the ability to work effectively in a multicultural environment.
The Department
The Department of Kinesiology at Sonoma State is housed within the College of Science, Technology, and Business and offers a cross-disciplinary curriculum that addresses human movement across the lifespan from sociocultural, biological/physical, behavioral, and humanistic perspectives, with attention given to the unique and common needs of all people in a wide variety of contexts and conditions. The recently revised curriculum prepares graduates to apply kinesiological principles to the acquisition, performance, and refinement of motor skills and to the use of physical activity as an educative tool and a medium for health promotion, personal well-being, and participation in an active lifestyle.
In conjunction with the broader educational mission of the University, the kinesiology major program prepares students to lead and participate in a modern complex society and to assume multiple roles throughout their lifetimes. Graduates acquire knowledge and experiences that prepare them to pursue lifelong learning, advanced study, and/or careers in such areas as teaching, coaching, adapted physical education, allied health fields, health and fitness industries, sport industries, or exercise and movement science. To achieve this mission, the kinesiology major provides students with a well-structured set of curricular and co-curricular experiences and the mentorship to derive a sound education from the University experience. The Department offers a Bachelor of Science degree with three concentrations of study: Exercise Science/pre-Physical Therapy; Interdisciplinary/pre-Occupational Therapy, and Lifetime Physical Activity. A Biomedical Engineering minor - developed with the Department of Engineering Sciences - has been approved by faculty and will accept students in January 2026.
To promote academic excellence, the Department actively recruits students from a range of backgrounds, including but not limited to local community college students, first generation college students, dual language learners/students, and Pell eligible individuals.
Prospective applicants are encouraged to view the department's web page at:
kinesiology.sonoma.edu
Duties of the Position
Primary teaching responsibility will be Lifespan Motor Development. Additional teaching responsibilities may include research methods, physical activity for diverse populations, aging and disability, health and wellness across the lifespan, foundations of kinesiology, personal fitness and wellness, and physical activity courses. The candidate will have the opportunity to contribute to other courses or develop new courses, which could include an offering in their area of specialization.
Additional responsibilities include developing a line of research, writing grant proposals and/or other scholarly activities; advising students; assisting the department with administrative and committee work; serving on campus-wide committees; developing a physical activity program for community for older adults (preferred), and actively participating in professional organizations in kinesiology or related fields.
Required Qualifications
To be recommended for appointment, the candidate must have: