Assistant​/Associate Extension Agent; Nutrition and Community Health

Job Posting Title

Assistant/Associate Extension Agent (Nutrition and Community Health)

Faculty

LSUAG PL3 - Southwest
- Assumption (Margo Lynn Castro ))

0101 Assumption Parish Extension Office

Academic

Work Location:

The area to be served includes Assumption, St. Mary and St. Martin parishes. While this position will have responsibilities in the Southwest region, the proposed domicile for this position is Assumption Parish Extension Office. The NCH agent will also have Point of Contact responsibilities in Lower St. Martin Parish and St. Mary parishes.

Position

Description:

This is a non-tenure track, agent level position (100% Extension NCH appointment). The Nutrition & Community Health (NCH) Extension Agent will work under the supervision and direction of the Parish Chair, NCH Regional Coordinator, Regional Director, and NCH state office faculty. This position includes a seventy percent (70%) Flavors of Health (FOH) appointment and a thirty percent (30%) Centers for Disease Control High Obesity Program (CDC-HOP) appointment.

For the seventy percent (70%) Flavors of Health (FOH) appointment, the Agent will develop and maintain a plan of work for general nutrition education programming based on current FOH expectations and for serving as a primary point of contact for nutrition programming in Assumption parish. This will include recruiting clientele for nutrition programs; implementing core curricula; preparing nutrition education materials, communications, and activities that respond to local needs or requests;

and facilitating a community advisory committee to provide programmatic direction to strengthen outreach efforts. Flavors of Health programming include delivering programs on chronic disease prevention and management through healthy lifestyle changes. Additionally, the incumbent will be expected to disseminate research‑based information, identify educational opportunities, and participate in other educational meetings aimed at serving stakeholders in Assumption parish. The Agent is expected to use a variety of delivery methods to deliver information and provide educational opportunities, which could include newsletters, social media posts, workshops and other educational events, and contributing to parish websites.

Additionally, thirty percent (30%) of the Agent’s time will be dedicated to facilitating the Healthy Communities program and will work under the supervision and direction of the Parish Chairs, Regional Director, NCH Regional Coordinator, and NCH state office faculty. The Agent will implement NCH Healthy Communities projects in Assumption Parish designed to promote a broad initiative to increase healthy food access and physical activity in the parish by addressing the food system and built environment.

The agent will organize community‑based advisory committees involving stakeholders, local government, volunteers, other health professionals and community residents to identify the most critical needs in the communities served, strategies to address those needs, ways to overcome barriers to good nutrition and health in communities and build community advocacy. Following those needs identified by the advisory committees, the Agent will work with advisory committees and community groups to promote healthy behaviors in the parish.

The Agent will provide primary leadership in planning, implementing, evaluating and reporting food and physical activity policy, environmental and systems interventions as well as implementing health and nutrition education programming for adult and youth in the parish leading up to and as a result of these efforts. Additionally, the incumbent will be the catalyst to educate existing and potential community and programming partners about the importance of nutrition education and complementary policy, systems and environmental strategies for audiences that address nutrition, physical activity, food safety and food security needs.

The agent will work under the administrative supervision and direction of the parish chair, NCH Regional Coordinator, NCH State office staff, and regional director. To attend and conduct training to meet the needs of the clientele, this position requires some overnight travel and work on evenings and weekends.

A baccalaureate degree in dietetics, community and family nutrition, human ecology, public health, wellness and health , family and consumer sciences, food science,…