Careers
Careers
RIT’s College of Art and Design is one of the most dynamic colleges of art and design in the nation. With technology, the arts, and design at our core, we are a professional art school within a comprehensive technical university.
The College of Art and Design has five schools (art, crafts, design, film and animation, and photography), 140 faculty, and 60 staff members. We are a close-knit, collaborative community of artists, innovators and scientists.
We are committed to recruiting and hiring the most qualified individuals. RIT promotes and values diversity, pluralism, and inclusion in the workplace. Recognized as a prestigious “Diversity Champion” by INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine, RIT takes enormous pride in its continuing diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts that advance a welcoming and inclusive environment for all.
The RIT campus is just minutes away from downtown Rochester, N.Y. You can explore and enjoy the city’s entertainment, and cultural offerings. The city is large enough to provide the dining and nightlife opportunities you might expect in a bigger city, yet small and friendly enough to be inviting and accessible. RIT is also not far from the beautiful Finger Lakes region known for its lakes, wineries, and restaurants.
RIT and Rochester certainly have a lot to offer. We hope you consider applying!
School of Design
Assistant Professor, Industrial Design
We invite applications from accomplished designers and educators with significant professional expertise. The successful candidate will demonstrate the capacity to teach comprehensively across the Industrial Design curriculum and exhibit leadership and strategic vision in advancing the program. A strong emphasis will be placed on candidates with a proven ability to integrate emerging technologies and methodologies into the curriculum, particularly those with experience or scholarly interest in the application of AI tools within the discipline.
Assistant Professor, 3D Digital Design
We seek applicants to teach design courses using industry standard content creation software such as Maya, Blender, ZBrush and Adobe Creative Suite, and game engines such as Unreal and/or Unity. The ability to teach a variety of techniques applicable to 3D projects including: research, ideation, modeling, materials and lighting is important. Of particular interest is a candidate with expertise in digital character design and organic modeling and sculpting methods. We are interested in candidates who bring a unique interest or experience in applying artificial intelligence tools and methods to design workflows as well as the delivery of content in immersive and augmented environments.
Responsibilities include:
- Teaching 5-6 courses per year ranging from lower-division foundations to upper-division and graduate levels
- Engaging in scholarly activities/research within the arts, design, and media disciplines that lead to peer-reviewed dissemination and/or grant funding
- Working with School of Design faculty on program and curricular development
- Maintaining a high level of expertise in 3D graphics areas
- Advising students for capstone/thesis projects and providing professional mentorship
- Rendering service to the school, college, university, and community
- Career advising and mentoring of students
Lecturer, 3D Digital Design
We seek applicants to teach design courses using industry standard content creation software such as Maya, Blender and Adobe Creative Suite, and game engines such as Unreal and/or Unity. The ability to teach a variety of techniques applicable to a 3D project including: research, ideation, modeling, visual scripting, materials, lighting, rendering, and compositing is important. We are interested in candidates who bring a unique interest or experience in applying artificial intelligence tools and methods to design workflows as well as the delivery of content in immersive and augmented environments.
Responsibilities Include:
- Teaching 7-8 courses per year ranging from lower-division foundations to upper-division levels
- Working with the School of Design faculty on program and curricular development
- Maintaining a high level of expertise in 3D graphics areas
- Advising students for capstone/thesis projects and providing professional mentorship
- Rendering service to the school, college, university, and community
- Career advising and mentoring students
Assistant Professor, Motion Design
We seek candidates with expertise in motion design who are well-rounded visual designers. We are particularly interested in candidates who bring unique interest or experience in Generative AI tools as related to their field. Ideal candidates will be able to teach animation principles and design concepts and will teach students storytelling as it applies to motion, along with beginning to high-level skills and industry practices. Candidates will teach intro classes along with more advanced techniques, and use of software such as Adobe After Effects and Cinema 4D is a must. Candidates should also possess the ability to provide leadership and vision in integrating motion design into the Graphic Design (BFA), New Media Design (BFA), and Visual Communication Design (MFA) curriculums.
Assistant Professor, Graphic Design
We seek candidates who are well-rounded designers and educators who understand current and emerging trends in contemporary practice and graphic design education, such as Typography, Information Design, Experiential Design, Packaging Design, Systems Design, Branding, Interactive Design, UX/UI, and Motion Design with an understanding of traditional print-based design and digital technology. We are particularly interested in candidates who bring unique interest or experience in Artificial Intelligence tools as related to their field. Candidates should be qualified to teach throughout the curriculum and on all levels. Ideal candidates will possess the ability to provide leadership and vision in integrating emerging media applications into the Graphic Design curriculum. Preparing students for professional practice is a central focus of our program.
School of Photographic Arts and Sciences
Assistant Professor, Advertising Photography
We seek applicants to teach undergraduate courses, including classes for the Advertising Photography option within the Photographic Imaging Arts BFA. The ideal candidate is a creative assignment photographer dedicated to educating future image makers, highly skilled in lighting (studio and location), and understanding contemporary photographic practices, technologies, and trends.
The candidate’s portfolio should demonstrate professional experience with studio and location lighting for still product photography and portraits, concept and execution of assignment photography, and evidence of high-quality digital workflow from capture to output. Video capture and editing, as well as the integration of traditional and historical photographic processes alongside emerging technologies, workflows, and outputs, are beneficial and preferred.
View position details and apply
Assistant Professor, Fine Art Photography
We invite applicants for a tenure-track position to teach in the Fine Art Photography option within the Photographic Imaging Arts BFA program, and the MFA in Photography and Related Media program. Successful candidates will teach technical and conceptual undergraduate and graduate-level digital and analog photography courses, critique courses, and studio courses.
The candidate’s portfolio must demonstrate scholarship on a national and international level; conceptual, historical, and theoretical knowledge of contemporary photography and fine art; and proficiency in both digital and analog photographic processes from capture to output, including software such as Lightroom, Photoshop, and others.
View position details and apply
Visiting Assistant Professor, Art History
The School of Photographic Arts and Sciences invites applicants for a Visiting Assistant Professor in the history of photography to teach in its Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) and Master of Fine Arts (MFA) art history curriculum to start in August 2025. The successful candidate will teach undergraduate- and graduate-level courses in the history, theory, and criticism of photography and at least two courses in the Art History curriculum in the School of Art per year. Applicants must demonstrate a strong research profile and a commitment to teaching at the undergraduate and graduate levels. This role is a three-year visiting position with the option to renew to a maximum five-year term.
Adjunct Faculty Openings
Art History
The School of Art, located within the College of Art and Design at the Rochester Institute of Technology, is interested in finding qualified adjunct instructors to teach courses in the following areas:
- ARTH 135 Survey: Ancient to Medieval Art
- ARTH 136 Survey: Renaissance to Modern Art
These global art history survey courses are lower-division courses generally taken by first-year students. We offer multiple introductory survey courses in art history, with each course section comprising 50 students. Students are primarily from the BFA programs within the College of Art and Design, but may also be from programs outside the college.
Art history survey courses incorporate the following learning outcomes:
- Describe how and why objects and images were produced.
- Analyze and compare the functions and meanings of works of art within their historical and social contexts.
- Articulate how works of art visually express meaning using discipline-specific vocabulary.
- Recognize elements of artistic style considering how style is defined and categorized
- Describe and explain relationships between works of art produced in different cultures, including instances of cultural exchange, influence, and/or appropriation
We value teaching that is innovative, topical, and engaging, and that will help students develop skills in critical thinking and analysis. We may consider proposals for classes on other topics within art history, but our primary needs are the courses listed above. We seek an individual to live our values, embrace diverse perspectives, and nurture the RIT community to remain a great place to work for all; who has the ability and interest in leading and contributing to a community committed to student-centeredness; professional development and scholarship; integrity and ethics; respect; innovation and flexibility; and teamwork and collaboration. Select to view links to RIT’s core values, honor code, and statement of diversity.
Adjunct instructors are responsible for:
- Leading regular class meetings during the semester, for a total of 45 contact hours per three-credit lecture class
- Designing course materials (lectures, assignments, assessments) to deliver the assigned course as described in the course outline
- Assessing student coursework
Expected qualifications:
- Minimum of an MA in Art History
- Experience teaching at the university level
Salary range: $3,600 - $5,400 per section, depending on experience and degree level
The School of Art is home to 27 full-time faculty members leading programs in ceramics, expanded forms, furniture design, glass, illustration, medical illustration, metals and jewelry design, painting, printmaking, and sculpture. There are 37 adjunct faculty teaching in the School of Art. The minor in art history is based in the School of Art. Graduate programs in the School of Art are offered in fine arts studio and art education; the connected School for American Crafts houses graduate programs in glass, furniture design, metals and jewelry design, and ceramics. To learn more about the programs, faculty, and students in SOA, please visit http://cad.rit.edu/art.
Please send your CV to: Sarah Thompson, Associate Professor of Art History, Art History Coordinator, setfaa@rit.edu.
RIT does not discriminate. RIT promotes and values diversity, pluralism and inclusion in the work place. RIT provides equal opportunity to all qualified individuals and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, creed, age, marital status, sex, gender, religion, sexual orientations, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, veteran status or disability in its hiring, admissions, educational programs and activities. For more information or inquiries, please visit RIT/TitleIX or the U.S. Department of Education at www.ED.Gov/OCR.