Description
The College for Creative Studies
(CCS) invites applications for the position of Chair of Entertainment Arts.
Reporting to the Dean of Undergraduate Studies, the Chair is responsible for
the overall management of the undergraduate department of Entertainment Arts at
CCS, and for preserving and enhancing its position as a leader in animation,
game design, and video arts education. Rank and compensation are commensurate
with qualifications and experience.
Responsibilities: The Chair oversees all aspects of undergraduate
education in the Entertainment Arts Department’s three primary areas:
animation, game design, and video. The Chair is responsible for the planning, development,
and oversight of curriculum and student outcomes, as well as supervising the department’s
full-time and adjunct faculty, staff, and budget. The Chair works in
collaboration with the Provost and the Dean of Undergraduate Studies to develop
and disseminate appropriate pedagogical methods, learning objectives, and
coursework to ensure the education of artists and designers who are positioned
to succeed at the highest levels of the global entertainment arts industry. The
Chair maintains and develops industry contacts and works with the College’s
Institutional Advancement and Career Services Departments to create and
implement sponsored project, internship and job placement efforts. Continued professional
activity and growth and service at the department and college levels are also
required. In addition, the Chair gets a course release per semester and teaches
two classes per semester during the academic year.
Requirements: Applicants must possess a terminal degree (MFA or an
equivalent degree) in animation, game, or film related studies. Candidates are expected
to be active, practicing professionals with a distinguished record in animation,
game, film or video art. The successful candidate will demonstrate a thorough
understanding of digital/traditional related art forms, including analog and
digital 2D and 3D animation, stop motion film and video, motion graphics,
armature construction, special effects, and visual effects. Areas of expertise
should include, but are not limited to, concept development, storyboarding,
environments, characters, visual development, asset creation, and complete
production process on set and on location. Knowledge of the history of
animation, games, and video as well as familiarity with feature, documentary,
experimental, multi-media, and emerging media forms is essential. Proficiency
in and ability to teach a range of current software, such as Maya, Unreal,
Unity, Torque, ModBox, ZBrush, Protocols, Final Cut, Avid, Toon Boom, Flash, TV
Paint, and Adobe CS, is required. A commitment to interdisciplinary practice
and education with other fields of art and design is critical. College-level
teaching experience is highly desirable. College-level teaching experience as
well as management experience in either academia or industry is highly
desirable.
About the department: The CCS Entertainment Arts Department has
over 250 students and is expected to continue to grow. It specializes in
Animation, Game Design and Video. It utilizes both Mac and PC computers, 3D
printers, a stop motion animation lab, an experimental/traditional animation
lab, render farm, AV labs with HD capability, and sound re-recording suites. It
has numerous digital production tools and resources supported by the College’s
Information Technology Services and Academic Technologies Departments. The
department currently has four full-time faculty and a number of adjunct
faculty. The department also has approval for a fifth full-time faculty with a
focus in game design and a search is currently underway.
About CCS: College for Creative Studies is a nonprofit institution;
it is considered one of the nation’s leading art and design colleges. CCS has state-of-the-art
facilities to support the complete range of creative production, from
traditional art forms such as painting, glassblowing, foundry, and printmaking
to the most contemporary systems, including the latest digital imaging
technology and extensive rapid prototyping output tools. The College currently
enrolls more than 1,400 undergraduate and graduate students. It offers a
Bachelor of Fine Arts in eleven majors: Advertising, Entertainment Arts, Art
Education, Crafts, Fine Arts, Graphic Design, Illustration, Interior Design,
Photography, Product Design, and Transportation Design. A new BFA in Fashion
Accessories Design will launch in 2015. It also offers the Master of Fine Arts
degree in Color and Materials Design, Interaction Design, Interdisciplinary
Design, and Transportation Design. (See insideccs.com.)
About the location: CCS is located at the center of Detroit’s
creative and cultural hub. The Walter and Josephine Ford Campus is next to the
world-class encyclopedic Detroit Institute of Arts, and near to the new Museum
of Contemporary Art Detroit. The A. Alfred Taubman Center for Design Education
is one mile south in a 760,000-square foot National Register of Historic Places
building designed by Alfred Kahn. Business
Insider magazine has named Detroit “One of the 15 Hottest American Cities
of the Future” with Forbes naming it
one of the “10 Up-and-Coming Downtowns.” Detroit’s Creative Corridor is home to
4,000 creative sector employees, 200 individual creative sector companies, and
$640 million in aggregate annual revenues. The Detroit region features a robust
creative industry sector, including production studios, advertising agencies,
and other media communications concerns. Metropolitan Detroit has the highest
concentrations and quantities of commercial and industrial designers of all
U.S. metropolitan regions. Detroit’s professional creative industry is the
third largest private sector employer in the city, employing approximately
12,300 individuals.
How to apply: Applicants are encouraged to apply immediately. The
search will close when a suitable candidate is hired.
A cover letter, resume, statement
of teaching philosophy, URL portfolio or DVD, and breakdown of professional work
and samples of student work (if applicable) should be sent to:
College for Creative Studies
Office of Human Resources
Re: Chair of Entertainment Arts
201 E. Kirby
Detroit, MI 48202-4034
Entertainment Arts department site:
http://www.collegeforcreativestudies.edu/hs/academics/entertainment_arts
Entertainment Arts department Vimeo:
https://vimeo.com/ccsentertainmentarts
CCS website:
http://www.collegeforcreativestudies.edu/