POSITION ANNOUNCEMENT # 00014574
REQUISITION # 499221
Title: Director and Associate/Full Professor
Location: Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants
University of Florida
Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS)
Gainesville, Florida
Salary: Commensurate with Qualifications and Experience
Review Date: For full consideration, candidates should apply and submit
additional materials by January 6, 2017. The position will remain open
until a viable applicant pool is determined.
Duties and Responsibilities
This is a 12-month tenure-accruing position that will be 80% Administration
and 20% Extension (Florida Cooperative Extension Service), available in the
Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, at the University of Florida.
This assignment may change in accordance with the needs of the Center for
Aquatic and Invasive Plants (CAIP). Tenure will accrue in the program area
of the successful candidate.
Duties will be to provide vision and leadership of the CAIP; interact and
collaborate with key Federal and State agencies as well as other
stakeholders; secure extramural support for programs and infrastructure;
supervise CAIP personnel and oversee Center facilities. The Director will
identify and develop high priority interdisciplinary research, extension,
and educational programs focused on the biology, ecology and management of
aquatic and upland invasive plants, and ecosystem restoration. The Director
will engage in extension activities in his or her program area.
The Director will cooperate with IFAS statewide Faculty, Unit Leaders,
District Extension Directors and other IFAS Administrators in developing
effective research, extension, and education programs. The Director will
represent IFAS on University, Regional, State and National committees. The
Director will administratively report to the Senior Vice President for
Agriculture and Natural Resources. Because of the IFAS land-grant mission,
all faculty are expected to be supportive of and engaged in all three
mission areas—Research, Teaching and Extension—regardless of the assignment
split specified in the position description.
Qualifications
Required:
An earned Ph.D. degree (foreign equivalent acceptable) in biology, ecology,
natural areas management, environmental science, weed science, or a closely
related discipline is required. The candidate should have experience with
aquatic and upland invasive plants and demonstrated competence in planning,
administering, and evaluating interdisciplinary research, extension, and
educational programs. Candidate should have strong skills in verbal and
written communication, interpersonal relationships, and procurement of
extramural funding. Candidates must be supportive of the mission of the
Land-Grant system, and have a commitment to IFAS core values of excellence,
diversity, global involvement, and accountability.
Preferred:
Administrative experience or demonstrated potential to work effectively in a
coordinating and facilitating role is desirable.
Background Information
The University of Florida (http://www.ufl.edu) is a Land-Grant, Sea-Grant,
and Space-Grant institution, encompassing virtually all academic and
professional disciplines, with an enrollment of more than 53,000 students.
UF is a member of The Association of American Universities. The Institute
of Food and Agricultural Sciences (http://ifas.ufl.edu) includes the College
of Agricultural and Life Sciences (http://cals.ufl.edu), the Florida
Agricultural Experiment Station (http://research.ifas.ufl.edu), the Florida
Cooperative Extension Service (http://extension.ifas.ufl.edu), the College
of Veterinary Medicine (http://www.vetmed.ufl.edu), the Florida Sea Grant
program (http://www.flseagrant.org/ ), and encompasses 16 on-campus academic
departments and schools, 12 Research and Educational Centers (REC) located
throughout the state, 6 Research sites/demonstration units administered by
RECs or academic departments, and Florida Cooperative Extension Service
offices in all 67 counties (counties operate and maintain). The School of
Natural Resources and Environment is an interdisciplinary unit housed in
IFAS and managed by several colleges on campus. IFAS employs over 2500
people, which includes approximately 900 faculty and 1200 support personnel
located in Gainesville and throughout the state. IFAS, one of the nation’s
largest agricultural and natural resources research and education
organizations, is administered by a Senior Vice President and four deans:
the Dean of the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, the Dean for
Extension and Director of the Florida Cooperative Extension Service, the
Dean for Research and Director of the Florida Agricultural Experiment
Station, and the Dean for the College of Veterinary Medicine. UF/IFAS also
engages in cooperative work with Florida A&M University in Tallahassee.
The UF/IFAS Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants is a multidisciplinary
research, teaching and extension unit directed to develop environmentally
sound techniques for the management of aquatic and natural area weed species
and to coordinate aquatic plant research activities within the State of
Florida. The Center was established in 1978 by the Florida legislature.
Currently directed by Dr. William Haller, the Center utilizes expertise from
many departments within UF/IFAS and its Agricultural Research and Education
Centers throughout Florida. The Center is located approximately 9 miles
northwest of the main UF campus and is co-located with the School of Forest
Resources and Conservation’s Fisheries Program and adjacent to the USGS
Aquatic and Wetland Research Center. Research facilities include four 24 by
80-foot-long greenhouses, several smaller Orelite glass houses and several
hundred square feet of shade house with 900-liter concrete tanks, plus
various other facilities for growing and conducting field and controlled
research on aquatic and upland plants. The site also has several ponds
averaging ¼ acre that have most recently been used for biocontrol research
by the Entomology Department and also for herbicide research by the Agronomy
Department, both affiliated with the Center. The Center houses 3 faculty
members from the Agronomy Department and works closely with an additional
3-4 faculty members in the Fisheries Program. The Center also has affiliate
faculty from Agronomy, Entomology and other closely aligned departments
located in Gainesville and at Research and Education Centers throughout the
state. There are 20-25 support staff including graduate students and the
Center’s Information Office which maintains a library with over 90,000
holdings, the Invasive Plant Education Initiative, and our website located
at http://plants.ifas.ufl.edu
Employment Conditions
This position is available Spring Semester, 2017 and will be filled as soon
thereafter as an acceptable applicant is available. Compensation is
commensurate with the education, experience, and qualifications of the
selected applicant.
Nominations
Nominations are welcome. Nominations need to include the complete name and
address of the nominee. This information should be sent to:
Please refer to Requisition # 499221
Dr. Saqib Mukhtar
Chair, Search and Screen Committee
UF/IFAS
Office of the Dean for Extension
1038 McCarty Hall D
Gainesville, FL 32611
Telephone: (352) 392-1761
Facsimile: (352) 846-0458
Electronic Mail: smukh...@ufl.edu
Application Information
• Individuals wishing to apply should go online to
http://explore.jobs.ufl.edu/cw/en-us/job/499221 and submit:
o Application
o A formal letter of application which includes a brief statement of the
applicant's leadership skills and vision, administrative philosophy, and
ideas on the role of the Center of Aquatic and Invasive Plants.
o Current Curriculum vitae which includes a biographical sketch,
leadership
roles, service, consultant roles, and a complete list of publications.
o Contact information for at least three individuals willing to write
letters of recommendation
Final candidate will be required to provide official transcript to the
hiring department upon hire. A transcript will not be considered “official”
if a designation of “Issued to Student” is visible. Degrees earned from an
education institution outside of the United States are required to be
evaluated by a professional credentialing service provider approved by
National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES), which can be
found at http://www.naces.org/ .
The University of Florida is an Equal Opportunity Institution dedicated to
building a broadly diverse and inclusive faculty and staff. The selection
process will be conducted in accord with the provisions of Florida’s
‘Government in the Sunshine’ and Public Records Laws. Persons with
disabilities have the right to request and receive reasonable accommodation.
