Extension Educator-Fixed

Extension Educator-Fixed

District 13 Director, MSU Extension

The MSU Extension (MSUE) District Director supports the counties of Berrien, Branch, Calhoun, Cass, Kalamazoo, St. Joseph, and Van Buren. The role of the district director is to develop, maintain, and coordinate relationships between MSU Extension and local community partners, provide oversight and mentoring to Extension educators, and non-academic paraprofessional and support staff housed in the district, and to employ entrepreneurial efforts to secure resources with other partners.

In this role, you will join the MSU Extension Administrative team and will collaborate regularly with colleagues across MSU Extension. You will lead efforts in your district to recruit and hire staff and will work in partnership with MSUE Institute Directors to develop, coach, and mentor staff, and when applicable, address personnel matters. The district director's role operates within a unionized setting and requires an ability to interpret and apply labor relations practices and collective bargaining agreements.

Serving in this role provides you with the responsibility to develop, maintain, and enhance relationships within the district. You will work closely with the county boards of commissioners on budgets and other matters relative to the work MSU Extension does. You will help our partners understand the mission and impacts of MSU Extension through representing MSUE and telling our story to community partners and organizations.

You will make sure they know about the work we are doing and ensure that we are not the best kept secret, but a known and trusted partner within the communities we serve. Additionally, you will assist educators and paraprofessional staff in the development of appropriate community partners related to the staff member's statewide program focus and will assist in negotiating and procuring resources and support from community partners.

The counties located within District 13 are a diverse mix of shoreline, agricultural, and developed land. Various types of manufacturing production, agricultural production, higher education, and tourism are the predominant economic drivers of the area. There is a unique blend of highly populated urban areas and rural communities; both with diverse programmatic needs.

Although negotiable, the office location for the District 13 Director is the Van Buren County MSU Extension office. The district director will work throughout the counties located in district 13 to support MSU Extension operations and partnerships.

This position may be eligible to utilize a flexible work environment; however, there is an expectation to work from a MSU Extension county office located within district 13. The needs, responsibilities, and opportunities of an individual's position and office location drive the ability and amount of work-location flexibility.

The initial appointment is for one year in the fixed-term academic appointment system. Following a satisfactory performance review, nine months into the appointment, a two-year extension will be provided at the end of the first year. Thereafter, the incumbent will be considered for additional three-year fixed term appointments, dependent upon performance.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, citizenship, age, disability or protected veteran status.

Masters

• Master's degree from an accredited institution must be earned by date of hire.
• Outstanding oral and written communication skills, including the ability to listen effectively.
• Demonstrated experience in building relationships with community partners, resource development, and budget management.
• Effective and demonstrated interpersonal skills, including the ability to work with community and political leaders, as well as campus-based administrators, faculty, and staff.
• Ability to demonstrate sensitivity, knowledge, and use of appropriate approaches, skills, and techniques, which reflect an understanding and awareness of social, cultural, and economic diversity of the target population served.
• Supervisory experience.
• Ability to carry out all functions of staff management in a hybrid work environment.
• Ability to create and carry out a project plan from research of initial concept to project completion and follow-up.
• Ability to work effectively in a unionized environment, including interpreting and applying collective bargaining agreements.
• Experience and proven ability working productively with a team serving in both leadership and contributor roles.
• Self-motivated with the demonstrated ability to work independently without daily supervision and/or coaching.
• Participation in stakeholder meetings, including occasional meetings that fall outside of traditional working hours.
• Proficiency in use of technology (e.g., web research, Qualtrics, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook for mail/calendaring, distance…