Canada Research Chair (Tier II), School-Based Mental Health

The Werklund School of Education at the University of Calgary invites applications for a Tier II Canada Research Chair (CRC) in School-Based Mental Health. The successful candidate will be appointed at the rank of Assistant Professor (tenure-track) or Associate Professor (with tenure) and will be nominated for a CRC Tier II position. 

The successful candidate will hold a completed doctorate in counselling psychology, school and/or applied child psychology, or educational psychology or related discipline in an area of specialization relevant to the Chair. While not a requirement, preference will be given to candidates who received their PhD from a CPA and/or APA accredited program. It is also an asset to have completed a CPA/APA accredited residency. Preference will be given to candidates whose research focuses on bridging and connecting mental health and wellbeing supports in schools including systems level practice, policy, and systemic change. The CRC will bring additional knowledge and solutions to upstream systemic challenges that children and youth face in schools and in their communities. The complex nature of student mental health, sustainable capacity building, and school-based service delivery demands a transdisciplinary approach, and this Chair will have substantive opportunities for collaboration between the Werklund School of Education, Mathison Centre for Mental Health Research & Education, Hotchkiss Brain Institute, Owerko, Azreili, and Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, and the across the multiple faculties of social work, nursing, psychology, and public health. Moreover, the Chair's research has opportunities to contribute to the institutional research priority of One Child Every Child. Drawing upon the strength across Canada. Together with the two nationally accredited educational psychology programs at Werklund School of Education, the Chair will have opportunities to collaborate with world-class talent, secure large-scale team grants, and establish an ecosystem for implementation science, positioning University of Calgary as the definitive leader in this field in Canada. Finally, the CRC Tier II candidate will be a member of the Centre for Wellbeing in Education, and will collaborate and partner with the Centre's mission to provide evidence-based research in school-based mental health, and support the professional outreach in knowledge translation and dissemination for educators and psychologists who work across the educational landscape. 

The proposed Chair in School-Based Mental Health and Well-Being is a direct activation of the University's Ahead of Tomorrow strategic plan. It confronts one of society's most pressing issues (i.e., child and youth well-being) by placing the University of Calgary at the forefront of a critical national conversation. This Chair will provide institutional leadership by moving beyond isolated research projects to build a transdisciplinary hub for systems-level implementation and knowledge mobilization. The Chair's mandate is to generate new knowledge, scale up evidence-based practices, and translate research into policy that school systems can realistically implement and maintain. 

Specifically, Werklund School welcomes candidates who are interested conducting research related to issues including: 1) examining mental health supports that are equitable and contextually responsive to educational systems; 2) translating evidence-based mental health supports into the complex, real-world context of schools; 3) examining systems and organizational structures that support mental health and wellbeing in educational systems to inform policy and practice; and/or 4) providing scholarly support for teaching and learning and building capacity for educators and schools.