Lecturer and Certified Child Life Specialist – Human Development and Family Studies

Department of Human Development and Family Studies

College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

We seek a dynamic and compassionate
Certified Child Life Specialist (CCLS)with a strong academic background in child development to join our department. Furthermore, we seek a colleague who shares our commitment to a diverse, inclusive, equitable, and accessible scholarly community. This unique role combines clinical expertise with academic instruction and community engagement. The successful candidate will oversee a new clinical community internship program for students in our Master of Science in Child Health degree program and teach undergraduate and/or graduate courses.

Summer clinical supervision responsibilities would be compensated as an additional summer salary.

• Teach 1-2 classroom-based courses each fall and spring semester.
• Coordinate and supervise a year-round community-based Child Health Internship program for students (HDFS 558). Provide training, evaluation, and support for student interns in accordance with the CCLS internship syllabus.
• Develop course materials and assessments aligned with program learning outcomes.
• Mentor and advise students pursuing careers in child life and related careers.
• Cultivate partnerships with local hospitals, clinics, and child-focused organizations.
• Ensure compliance with academic and professional standards for experiential learning.
• Collaborate effectively with other faculty involved in this degree program.
• Attend and contribute to department meetings and related activities.

• Instruction 65%
• Teach 1-2 classroom-based courses each fall and spring semester.
• Coordinate and supervise a community-based Child Health Internship program for students (HDFS 558). Provide training, evaluation, and support for student interns in accordance with the CCLS internship syllabus.
• Develop course materials and assessments aligned with program learning outcomes.
• Mentor and advise students pursuing careers in child life and related careers.
• Program Coordination 25%
• Cultivate partnerships with local hospitals, clinics, and child-focused organizations.
• Ensure compliance with academic and professional standards for experiential learning.
• Collaborate effectively with other faculty involved in this degree program.
• Other duties as assigned 10%
• Attend and contribute to department meetings and related activities.

Master’s degree in Human Development and Family Studies, Social Work, or a related field. Certified Child Life Specialist (CCLS) credential and clinical supervisor status. Minimum of three years of clinical experience in a pediatric healthcare setting. Experience in teaching, experience supervising student interns and strong organizational and communication skills.

Doctoral degree in Human Development & Family Studies, Child Development, Psychology, Social Work or related field. Bilingual or multilingual abilities. Demonstrated excellence in undergraduate teaching about child development (e.g., infancy and early childhood, middle childhood, adolescence) and child life-related topics (e.g., hospitalized children, bereavement, play therapy, professional ethics). Experience collaborating with health and community agencies.

This is a full-time 100% 9-month position paid over 12 months specialized faculty position. The expected start date is as soon as possible after 6/16/2026. Sponsorship for work authorization is not available for this position. The budgeted base salary range for this 9-month position is $65,000 to $75,000. Any summer supervision responsibilities would be compensated as an additional summer salary (one summer month is calculated as 1/9 of the base salary).

Work for this position will be expected to work at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus on a full-time basis per the University’s Workplace Flexibility policy. This is a non-budgeted position that will be reappointed annually, contingent upon funding and the department’s needs.

Applications must be…