Applications are invited for a faculty member who will serve in the Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) program in clinical psychology at the University of Prince Edward Island. Prince Edward Island is part of the traditional and unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq people. This position is subject to final budgetary approval.

The program: The PsyD program welcomed its second cohort of students in September 2020, and will apply for accreditation by the Canadian Psychological Association as soon as eligible. The program is infused with a critical lens, promoting methodological pluralism, and the integration of theory, research, and practice across individual and cultural diversities. The Department recognizes the importance of understanding individuals from their cultural, social and community contexts, and thus, is committed to training professionals who can engage helpfully with indigenous peoples and other cultures who have been neglected or suppressed. In line with this commitment, the Department of Psychology welcomed its first Elder in Residence in 2019. The program is also home to the UPEI Psychology Training Clinic which serves as the primary training facility for students in the first two years of the program before students transition to external placements in the community. 

Our aim is to graduate future clinical psychologists who are competent to:

1. Address mental health needs of individuals, couples, families, and the larger community, particularly those whose sociodemographic position has created barriers to accessing services.
2. Engage in high quality mental health services, including assessment, diagnosis, intervention, consultation, supervision, and research while modeling ethical decision making in their practice.
3. Respect the culture, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, gender, language, religion, sexuality, physical and psychological characteristics, and identity of individuals they encounter in their clinical practice.

The role:  The successful candidate will be appointed to a tenure-stream position (academic rank to be determined), joining the growing clinical psychology faculty in the department. Salary will be determined according to rank and experience, as outlined in the Collective Agreement. The faculty member will work with the clinical and non-clinical faculty members of the Department of Psychology to continue to build and grow the PsyD program. The successful candidate will be expected to teach graduate courses, especially in areas such as advanced intervention and assessment techniques for adults or children, and undergraduate courses which help meet the needs of the undergraduate program. Importantly, the candidate will be joining a team striving to build a renowned program to train the next generation of clinical psychologists. This is a unique opportunity for the successful candidate to make a major contribution to training clinical psychologists enabling them to excel in research and practice.  Opportunities exist for future leadership roles in both academic aspects of the program and in clinical training at the clinic.

We are especially interested in candidates who have expertise in one or more of the following areas: severe and persistent psychological disorders, behavioral medicine/health psychology, community psychology, cultural clinical psychology, substance use disorders, eating disorders, trauma-informed approaches, family systems, narrative approaches across the lifespan, or psychodynamic approaches. Ultimately, the successful candidate will be able to demonstrate how they are able to meet one or more of these needs, particularly when working with marginalized populations. The successful candidate will be expected to build their research programs in a relevant applied area of their choosing and ideally to forge links with researchers across a broad range of disciplines at UPEI.

Applications: Qualifications include a completed doctoral degree in Clinical or Counselling Psychology with evidence of successful teaching; a scholarly record of publications commensurate with rank; eligibility for registration with the PEI Psychologists Registration Board and then registration as a condition of employment; commitment to applied research and evidence of a productive research trajectory (e.g., publications, funding).

Interested candidates are invited to forward a cover letter detailing their suitability for a position, a curriculum vitae, teaching dossier, and description of scholarly contributions with links to key documents. In addition, interested parties will arrange to have forwarded three letters of reference which speak specifically to their match with this position to:

Department of Psychology

University of Prince Edward Island

psychadmin@upei.ca

In accordance with Canadian immigration requirements, all qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however, Canadian citizens and permanent residents will be given priority. UPEI is strongly committed to fostering diversity and inclusion within our community and encourages applications from all qualified candidates including women, persons of any sexual orientations and gender identities and/or expressions, racialized groups, persons with disabilities, and other groups that would contribute to the diversification of our campus. Applicants with Canadian indigenous heritage are especially encouraged to apply. Candidates who identify as being from any of these groups are encouraged to voluntarily self-identify in their application materials.

The Department, the University, the Island:

The Department of Psychology at UPEI was formed in 1969 as the University of Prince Edward Island was created through the coming together of Saint Dunstan’s University (SDU) and Prince of Wales College (PWC). The creation of UPEI presented the challenge of integrating scholars and students from two institutions with different religious and secular traditions into a new academic home. Creation of the Department of Psychology also required the coexistence of two relatively divergent perspectives in the discipline, as the primarily humanistic program at PWC and the strong behavioural and cognitive tradition valued by SDU came together to form the basis of what would become and remain a highly diverse academic unit. Within the first several years of its existence the Department expanded rapidly to include nine faculty members from a diversity of cultural and community backgrounds including scholars from China, India, the United States, and Canada. Having just celebrated its 50th anniversary, the Department continues to prize diversity within teaching and scholarship. Faculty include those with active research programs externally and internally funded, committed and award-winning teachers, and people who are actively engaged with community.

The University of Prince Edward Island (UPEI) enjoys a growing reputation for research innovation and academic excellence. UPEI’s six faculties (arts, business, education, nursing, science, and veterinary medicine) and three schools (sustainable design engineering, mathematical and computational sciences, and graduate studies) offer a wide range of programs and degrees to approximately 5,000 undergraduate and  graduate students. Home to multiple Canada Research Chairs, endowed and sponsored research chairs, and 3M National Teaching Fellows, UPEI offers its students access to exceptional faculty, researchers, and staff. In 2019, international students from 93 countries comprised 29 percent of the University’s total enrolment.

UPEI proudly offers access to global leaders and outstanding partner networks within a small, comprehensive university setting unlike any other. UPEI’s success in this regard enables our University and our province to demonstrate to the world that we are nimble, innovative, strongly connected, and globally competitive. Our research impact and opportunities are considerable. UPEI is the only small university in Canada that is home to:

• a Canada Excellence Research Chair (CERC)
• a Lévesque Research Chair and three Lévesque Professors
• a Centre of Excellence for Commercialization and Research (CECR)
• a UNESCO Chair (the only one east of Quebec), and most recently
• Canada First Research Excellence funding.

UPEI has achieved exponential growth within our Research and Graduate Studies areas. Recently, the industry research firm, RE$EARCH Infosource Inc., ranked UPEI fourth among 22 primarily undergraduate Canadian universities for international research collaboration, and second among these universities for research intensity.

The University of Prince Edward Island is located on 140 acres in Charlottetown, the birthplace of Confederation, and a bustling tourist destination that boasts the amenities of a much larger city, including excellent theatre, galleries, music, and dining possibilities. A province-wide hiking and biking trail runs right along the UPEI campus, and the National Park beaches and world- famous golf courses are a short drive away. Charlottetown and its surrounding communities offer charming and affordable housing options, a low crime rate, and a semi-rural lifestyle that is second-to-none.

In accordance with Canadian immigration requirements, all qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however, Canadian citizens and permanent residents will be given priority. UPEI is committed to the principle of equity in employment.

Review of applications will begin on February 1, 2021; however the competition will remain open until the position is filled.