#50898 Assistant or Associate Professor of Practice in CCPA - Public Relations and Strategic Communication

Southern Methodist University Inc; Dallas (TX); Hybrid; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Southern Methodist University’s Meadows School of the Arts in Dallas invites applications for a Public Relations and Strategic Communication Professor. We seek someone who has built PR strategies, managed crises, and mentored students with real-world insight.

You will teach a full course load across our undergraduate PR and strategic communication curriculum, including Newswriting for PR, Principles of Public Relations, and Crisis Management, while expanding internship pipelines and guest

Qualifications

• Meaningful, hands‑on professional experience in public relations or a closely related field.
• Demonstrated potential for excellence in undergraduate teaching.
• Ability to teach across a range of PR courses, from foundational writing to strategy and ethics.
• Strong interpersonal and written communication skills across a culturally diverse student and colleague community.
• BA in Communications, PR, Journalism, or related discipline.
• Experience integrating digital strategy, social analytics, or emerging communications technology into teaching or practice

Responsibilities

• Teach a full course load across our undergraduate PR and strategic communication curriculum, including courses like Newswriting for PR, Principles of Public Relations, Crisis Management, Principles of Digital Communication & Social Media.
• Mentor students who are hungry to learn both what is in the book and the things that a textbook can't teach them.
• Bring your professional network into the classroom, whether guest speakers, internship pipelines, or war stories that make the theory click.
• This is a Professional and Teaching faculty position with a 4/4 teaching load and a three-tier promotion path.

Skills

Public relations experience

Undergraduate teaching

Teach across PR courses

Interpersonal and written comms

BA in Communications/PR/Journalism

Education

Bachelor's degree in Communications/PR/Journalism

Advanced degree in Communications/PR/Journalism

Job description

Southern Methodist University: Meadows School of the Arts

Location

Open Date

Sep 18, 2026

Description

SMU’s Division of Corporate Communication and Public Affairs is searching for a Public Relations and Strategic Communication Professor.More specifically, we're looking for someone who has actually done the work, built the strategy, taken the 2 a.m. call, and knows the difference between a good pitch and a great one.Our CCPA faculty are award-winning practitioners, researchers, and communicators who show up for students the way great mentors showed up for them. If that sounds like you, we want to talk.

What You'll BringYou've spent real years in the field, agency, corporate, in-house, nonprofit, wherever the work happens. You've built PR strategies that moved the needle on reputation and visibility. You know media relations from the inside: pitching, placement, and what to do when a story you didn't want breaks anyway. You've led crisis response when the stakes were real. And now you're ready to translate that instinct into something teachable.

What You'll DoTeach a full course load across our undergraduate PR and strategic communication curriculum. It includes courses likeNewswriting for PR,Principles of Public Relations,Crisis Management,Principles of Digital Communication & Social Media, plus opportunities to shape special topics courses around your own expertise. Mentor students who are hungry to learn both what is in the book and the things that a textbook can't teach them. Bring your professional network into the classroom, whether that's guest speakers, internship pipelines, or simply war stories that make the theory click.

This is a Professional and Teaching faculty position. The typical teaching load for this position is a 4/4. While it is not eligible for tenure, it has a three-tier promotion path. Professional and Teaching faculty's primary responsibility is teaching. Creative work and research are not expected, though they may be rewarded.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications

• Meaningful, hands‑on professional experience in public relations or a closely related field
• Demonstrated potential for excellence in undergraduate teaching
• Ability to teach across a range of PR courses, from foundational writing to strategy and ethics
• Strong interpersonal and written communication skills across a culturally diverse student and colleague community
• B.A. in Communications, PR, Journalism, or related discipline.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience integrating digital strategy, social analytics, or emerging communications technology into teaching or practice
• Advanced degree in Communications, PR, Journalism, or related discipline
• PRSA membership, APR accreditation, or equivalent professional credentialing
• A track record of mentoring early-career professionals or students
• An active professional network you're excited to open up to students

Why SMU, Why Dallas?

Dallas is one of the most dynamic media and corporate communications markets in the country, and our students benefit from being embedded in it. You'll join a department that's actively investing in its future, with a faculty culture built on genuinely liking each other, not just tolerating each other.

SMU, a private nonsectarian university of roughly 12,000 students, is an inclusive and

intellectually diverse community of teachers and scholars that values diverse research

and creative agendas and is dedicated to academic excellence. The Dallas/Fort Worth

metroplex is a culturally rich arts and global business center, offering exceptional

museums, diverse cultural attractions and a vibrant economy.

The Division of Corporate Communication and Public Affairs, housed within Meadows School of the Arts, is home to nearly 200 majors across degree specializations in Organizational Communication, Public Relations & Strategic Communication and Public Affairs & Political Communication.

SMU is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, sexual orientation, or gender identity and expression.