Description
The Faculty of Social Work is seeking outstanding candidates for an exciting community-based RESEARCH CHAIR at the rank of Associate Professor with tenure or Full Professor with tenure. This position can be based at the Faculty’s Lethbridge, Calgary, or Edmonton campus, with an anticipated start date of July 1, 2025. This position will report to the Dean of Social Work.

THE RESEARCH CHAIR OPPORTUNITY

The Research Chair in Systems Transformation and Family Justice will generate new knowledge to be translated into practical action. The Chair will work with community to identify innovative approaches and actions to help transform the family justice system from a less adversarial, court-centric model to one that focuses on helping families. The Chair will explore opportunities for long-term, sustainable, community-engaged, cross-sectoral research collaborations with key players in the social and family justice systems, post-secondary institutions, governments, foundations, community organizations, those with lived experience, and collective impact initiatives. The anticipated outcome is to improve the quality of life of children, individuals, and families encountering the family justice system by providing pathways to support and services, building resilience, and achieving well-being.

The Faculty of Social Work and the Faculty of Law are collaborating to bring two new research chairs to work closely with the new Centre for Transformation (the Centre) at the University of Calgary. These two Research chairs will bring an intersection of academic knowledge, networks, and practical experience in human services, justice, health, disability, and other systems to bring knowledge into practical action. They will also collaboratively lead transdisciplinary partnerships with various organizations, including other post-secondary institutions, provincially and nationally. The Chairs will be expected to:

• Conduct evaluative research, innovation and action to generate impact.
• Leverage more funds to support community-engaged research partnerships in Canada.
• Attract highly qualified researchers interested in long-term careers in system change.
• Build trust and credibility with the community.

The position entails 60% research, 20% teaching and 20% service. The teaching component will include BSW, MSW and/or PhD courses. The service component includes service at faculty, university, and professional levels.
The successful candidate will provide impactful Chair leadership - from grant applications to determining and operationalizing methods decisions to donor stewardship for a community-based, expanding collaborative, unified, and diverse research hub team. The Chair will provide co-leadership for a provincial/nationwide research centre to support the work of transforming systems that will incorporate approaches to justice by Indigenous communities and vulnerable racialized communities who faced trauma.
The Centre will be housed at UCalgary, in the community, and virtually and include a team of researchers, postdocs, grad students, and various research projects in cooperation with community, social service, and justice sector organizations. Two new UCalgary Social Work and Law faculty research associates, along with these chairs, will support the centre’s work.
The researcher’s innovative and collaborative engagement with the community invites participatory action as an orientation to move to knowledge mobilization. The Chair will provide training for the public in non-credit and credit offerings. The Chair will also provide funding stewardship of community donors and diversify the resourcing of research and demonstration projects. An emphasis on service to society while including all stakeholders involved is necessary. The Research Chair will make Alberta one of the world’s top research areas for transforming systems and developing family wellness justice. The Chair will attract and retain a diverse cadre of world-class researchers, reinforcing academic research and training excellence in justice-related systems, processes, and agencies.

The Faculty of Social Work Research Chair in Systems Transformation and Family Justice and the Faculty of Law Research Chair in Systems Transformation and Family Justice will work together to develop new knowledge and train others in the best practices to support the transformation of the family justice system. Given the complex link between the justice and social services systems, the two transdisciplinary research chairs will maximize impact. The two chairs will aim to accomplish the following:

• Work collectively with others to transform the family justice system from an adversarial, court-centric model to one that focuses on child and family resilience and well-being.
• Focus on research and knowledge development, as well as reflection, learning, and evaluation of the Reimagining the Family Justice System initiative and what is currently happening locally, nationally, and internationally.
• Research emerging best practices and better understand the integration of family justice, human services, and other systems to provide prevention services and reduce long-term complex issues causing toxic effects.
• Research appropriate equitable and inclusive interventions and partnerships to provide quality services and supports to Indigenous communities and marginalized communities accessing the system.
• Develop research-informed public awareness initiatives to educate communities in navigating and accessing alternative dispute resolution methods as well as legal and social services and supports.
• Develop professional development programs to build the capacity of organizations serving Albertans who are encountering the family justice system.
• Integrate new knowledge from this initiative into the Faculties of Social Work and Law’s academic curricula, ensuring the next generation of social workers, lawyers, and allied professionals can practice their professions best to enhance child and family well-being.
• Facilitate collaboration and integrate expertise through learning networks with other faculties and researchers in other post-secondary institutions in Alberta and globally.
• Identify best practices through research and transformatively advance research into action through the Centre.
• With Centre support, play a key role in learning, evaluating, and documenting impact, thus contributing to practice advancement.
• Initiate knowledge mobilization so that the Centre can implement learnings and changes for the benefit of the community.

The Chairs will work closely with the new Centre for Transformation to contribute to sustainable impact in the following ways:

• The Centre is practice-focused and will implement and mobilize knowledge that the Research Chairs are developing and publishing as part of their research findings.
• The Centre’s purpose is to build community capacity to implement the Chairs’ transformative research. This will be a continuous feedback loop involving program evaluation.
• Infrastructure will support a larger scale (province-wide) initiative and engage partners across multiple systems to develop meaningful transdisciplinary, community-engaged, participatory research partnerships with post-secondary institutions, government, and regulatory bodies (Canadian Bar Association, Law Society of Alberta, Alberta College of Social Workers) and other associations seeking advancement in professional practice.
• It uniquely positions the Research Chairs and the Centre to mobilize collective action and community leadership in family justice transformation work by involving systems partners, post-secondary institutions, government and philanthropic funders, community leaders and influencers, and citizens, in the processes. The Chairs will also help attract research funding from SSHRC, CIHR, MITACS, and various capacity-building sources and attract diverse and influential partners committed to systemic change.

The benefits of the research initiative will go beyond post-secondary institutions and benefit the broader community by (i) advancing how family justice professionals and social workers practice and (ii) contributing to better system and process coordination for cross-sector collaboration between justice, children’s services, various other relevant sectors, community-based agencies, educators, policymakers, funders, and practitioners-all in the aim of improving outcomes. Findings from the research initiative will have a transformational impact on the family justice ecosystem level in the following ways:

• Individual Level
• Generate more innovative, promising practices to strengthen core life skills, including capacities to manage conflict and stress.
• Identify new and better pathways for individuals and families to access non-adversarial legal and essential interconnected social services and community supports.
• Organizational Level
• Enhance practitioners’ skills and organizational effectiveness to offer quality, well-coordinated, person-centred legal and social services.
• Enhance curriculum and knowledge for the next generation of social workers and lawyers by sharing research from this project with Faculties of Law and Social Work students.
• Community Level
• Identify new and better ways to educate and enhance the public’s awareness of the family justice system and build skills to resolve conflict through non-adversarial approaches.
• System Level
• Identify improved methods to measure the impacts of transformation across sectors, such as health, Indigenous, human services, justice, disability, newcomer, and child welfare.
• Help identify emerging trends in the family justice system and the unique and unmet needs of highly disadvantaged communities.
• Use research data to support community-led policy advocacy efforts in the family justice system. Inform policymakers in government (justice, human services, child welfare, etc.) for decision-making and allocating financial resources supporting the transformation of the family justice system.

CANDIDATE REQUIREMENTS

This Faculty of Social Work Chair position is a community-based Research Chair in system transformation.
Preference will be given to candidates with a track record in impactful systems transformation research.
Appointment at the rank of Associate Professor requires evidence of an established academic program of a calibre equivalent to national recognition by peers. It is expected that a record of high-quality research and scholarship suitable to social work has been achieved. Evidence of ability to obtain funding to sustain a research program is required. Evidence of teaching effectiveness and expertise, including a demonstrated ability to teach a variety of courses, design learning experiences and supervision of graduate students is required. A satisfactory record of active involvement in university, professional or community service is expected.
Appointment at the rank of Professor is reserved for those whose academic achievements are of a caliber equivalent to international standing and as outstanding in their community and in the social work field. It is expected that a record of the highest quality of contributions to research and scholarship, teaching and service, including leadership contributions and impact and innovation within the relevant community and social work discipline, has resulted in distinguished recognition. Evidence of teaching effectiveness, including a demonstrated ability to teach a variety of courses, educational leadership and supervision of graduate students, is required. A distinguished record of service contributions to the institution, the social work discipline and profession, and the broader community is required for appointment to full Professor.

Requirements for this position include:

• The candidate will hold a PhD in social work or related field.
• Applicants will hold either a BSW or MSW and be eligible to register with the Alberta College of Social Workers.
• The successful candidate must have evidence of commitment to child and family wellness, program evaluation, systemic change, and practice-based research using real-world data.
• The candidate will have evidence of past and potential excellence in family-serving justice sector research, participatory approaches, and knowledge exchange and mobilization.
• Evidence of excellence in teaching at the university level in diverse delivery contexts and unique delivery models at undergraduate and graduate levels is also required.

Other required credentials include:

• A minimum of two to five years of full-time leadership or clinical practice experience in a family justice area.
• Knowledge, skills, and commitment to reconciliation, equity, diversity, inclusion, accessibility, pluralism, futures studies, and social justice.
• Evidence of excellence in team leadership.
• Expertise in leading innovation and design thinking relevant to translating new research into practice (the continuum from ideation, designing, piloting, and scaling).
• Skills linked to Indigenous approaches/ethical space, i.e. Indigenous approaches to justice.
• Facilitation skills (as part of the process of building trust / authentic relationships), especially working with vulnerable communities (e.g. racialized communities) who faced trauma.
• Knowledge and experience in working with Indigenous Elders, knowledge keepers, and civil society leaders.
• Research experience in addressing intersectional vulnerabilities in the family justice sector with other sectors.
• Experience with systems transformation regarding social issues such as child protection, domestic violence, settlement, system integration, and people with disability.
• Capacity and willingness to engage institutions and donors to diversify funding for research and demonstration projects.
• An outstanding publication record in peer-reviewed journals for the stage of career.
• An outstanding track record of securing ongoing external research funds as principal investigator.
• Evidence of international-level influence.
• Service in University and Faculty committees.
• Evidence of excellence in contributing to ongoing curriculum development.
• Expertise and knowledge of clinical and systems support to families.
• Experience and knowledge in restorative justice practices and other conflict resolution approaches that foster dialogue, address harm and promote accountability.
• Demonstrated success with building capacity and training highly qualified personnel, and providing early research mentorship to colleagues.
• Demonstrated advanced ability for graduate student (MSW Thesis and PhD) supervision.
• Experience in collaboration and sharing scholarship with community-based practitioners.
• Experience in developing training for the public in non-credit and credit offerings.

The successful candidate will have demonstrated the potential to engage outstanding students and future researchers, build individual and community capacity through local and global partnerships, and attract competitive research funding. Candidates must demonstrate the ability to ensure a transformational voice in policy based on research, and facilitate discussions regarding research, services, programs, and systems transformation.
The candidate will have a deep knowledge of service systems, the use of databases and system methodologies, and significant research experience in social work, social sciences, or social policy.

Please refer the Job description for details