Research Assistant Professor in Community-Engaged Research

Job Description

The UTEP College of Education invites applications for one Research Assistant Professor (RAP) position specializing in community-engaged and impact-focused research, potentially through research-practice partnerships (RPP), to help advance the college's leadership in research for collaborative impact in education.

Location: El Paso, TX
Category: Education
Posted On: Wed Feb 18 2026

Funded by the UT System Regents Research Excellence Program, this is a full-time, non-tenure track research faculty position with a three-year appointment. This is a research-dedicated position with no required teaching load, though opportunities to teach may be available depending on interests, opportunities, and funding.

The College of Education is experiencing an exciting period of growth in its dedicated research structure, with a rapidly expanding team of research faculty and postdoctoral scholars. As part of our continued growth and strategic vision, the College of Education is intentionally expanding its research portfolio, with community engaged research, impact-focused research, and research-practice partnerships identified as priority growth areas. An RAP hire in this area will play a critical role in strengthening the College's collaborative impact with community partners.

UTEP's location on the U.S.

-Mexico border is an environment that drives research grounded in real-world challenges and opportunities. The UTEP College of Education is well positioned for expanded community-engaged, impact-focused research because of its existing and emerging partnerships with regional school districts and community organizations. The UTEP College of Education aims to bring on a dedicated faculty member to accelerate collaborative, impactful scholarship that directly improves educational outcomes in our community.

Successful candidates will have a research background in one or more of the following topics:
Counseling, Special Education, Educational Leadership, Teacher Education, Bilingual/Biliteracy Education, Early Childhood Education, Literacy/Biliteracy, Sociocultural Studies, STEM Education, Computer Science Education, Artificial Intelligence in Education, Space Education, Democracy Education, Workforce Development, and/or other closely related areas.

The RAP will develop a sustainable, externally funded research and programming agenda in RPP research. Faculty in the College of Education are currently in an RPP called the Paso del Norte Partnership for Education Research (PDNPER). This faculty position will potentially collaborate with PDNPER, community partners, and College of Education colleagues/leadership to design a clear and responsive process for soliciting research requests, ensuring that inquiry is driven by the real practice questions from educational and community organizations.

The RAP will help this group to develop a streamlined model for translating research findings into timely, actionable insights and accessible research products that directly support community partners' decision‑making and program improvement. The College is also consistently represented on the Provost's Community Engagement Council through a Provost's Faculty Fellow for Community Engagement from the Department of Teacher Education who currently sits on the Council.

The RAP will also actively collaborate with this group, as well as with UTEP Center for Community Engagement. Anticipated outputs include securing external research and programming funding, generating high‑impact scholarship (including products accessible to practice partners), receiving prestigious research awards, and providing resources and support to other UTEP researchers and partners seeking to grow their capacity in RPP work and accelerate the pathway from evidence to impact in education.

• Demonstrated commitment to and experience in research‑practice partnership broadly conceived, including but not limited to community‑engaged research, action research, use‑inspired research, and other relational, applied, and use‑oriented research paradigms.
• Evidence of peer‑reviewed publications or strong potential for scholarly…