Skip to main content

This job has expired

Open Rank Extension Educator – Rural Prosperity Nebraska (Butler County)

Employer
The University of Nebraska–Lincoln
Location
Lincoln, NE

View more

Employment Type
Full Time
Institution Type
Four-Year Institution

Job Details

Working Title:

Open Rank Extension Educator – Rural Prosperity Nebraska (Butler County)

Department:

Cooperative Ext Division-0788

Requisition Number:

F_210179

Posting Open Date:

10/20/2021

Application Review Date: (To ensure consideration, please submit all application materials before review date):

11/22/2021

Open Until Filled:

Yes

Description of Work:

Overview:Based in David City, NE, the incumbent serves Butler, Colfax, Platte, Nance, Merrick, Hamilton, Polk, York, and Seward Counties. Communities across Nebraska can create opportunities to thrive with effective leadership and an engaged citizenry. Nebraska Extension’s role is to catalyze these opportunities with communities who demonstrate readiness and willingness. Core to this role is the ability to conduct community outreach, visitation and engagement with community leaders and residents. Expected outcomes include: 1) a community engagement strategy based on lasting and trusted relationships implemented with communities and leaders, 2) identification and training of community leaders and organizations prepared to facilitate locally driven strategies and solutions, and 3) identifying development needs and opportunities. This Rural Prosperity Nebraska Educator will contribute to the integrated (extension, research, and teaching) land-grant mission of IANR as an effective scholar and citizen. Nebraska Extension is an organization that values excellence. As a member of the Nebraska Extension team, you are expected to create and deliver world-class learning experiences focused on critical issues that empower Nebraskans to improve their lives.

Incumbent will have interest, experience and expertise in one or more of the following mission areas:

  • People Attraction, Development and Retention. In many Nebraska communities, chronic and severe depopulation of younger generations is a major development threat, as well as an opportunity.
  • Quality of Life Placemaking. Central to community prosperity is quality of life placemaking. Placemaking is the art and science of helping communities understand their genuine place assets and developing smart placemaking strategies.
  • Entrepreneur-Focused Development. Economic diversification (both within and beyond agriculture) is foundational to community prosperity across Nebraska but particularly in farm- and ranch-dependent communities. Our central pathway to a more diverse economy is community-centered entrepreneur-led economic development.
  • Leadership and Organizational Development. Community (particularly non-metro community) capacity building (e.g., leadership and organizational development, visioning, strategic planning, etc.).
  • Regional Food Systems. Fostering and strengthening local food systems. Work with communities across the State to embark on building a food system that meets the needs of everyone.
Nebraska Extension Educators are committed to engaging with community partners, organizations, and all audiences, as well as individuals in ways that reflect an understanding and value for individual differences (e.g., race/ethnicity, abilities, gender, sexual orientation, religion). Nebraska Extension strives to ensure that innovative programming, translational research, and learning opportunities promote equity and inclusion.

Rural Prosperity Nebraska Educator (approximately 80%)
  1. Develop a close and defined working relationship with the RPN program leader and Engagement Zone Coordinator(s). Develop a plan to leverage your stakeholder reach and engagement within and beyond your RPN Accountability Region.
  2. Complete mapping of all your communities within your region and the major community economic development players.
  3. Use your networks to identify transactional assistance opportunities to connect them to resources both within our Team and externally (e.g., Extension, University and outside the University).
  4. A primary technology employed by our team in working with Nebraska communities is community coaching. Community coaching is a form of community engagement to help communities identify their development priorities and network communities to assistance and resources relevant to their development efforts.
  5. Use innovative strategies and cutting-edge technologies to design, develop, deliver and evaluate programs for a robust statewide Extension education program in rural prosperity.
  6. Work in a multi-disciplinary team environment with Extension professionals and other partners to translate and teach the latest research-based information.
  7. Work with both University and non-University resources to help rural communities network to achieve optimal assistance in their quest for greater prosperity.
  8. Use entrepreneurial practices to secure grants, program fees and partnerships to leverage the Extension educational program’s resource base and reach.
  9. Partner with research faculty to engage in action research that can be applied to educational programming.
  10. Practice effective Extension scholarship by conducting needs assessments, identifying priorities, measuring program impact and reporting results at professional meetings and in professional publications.
  11. Develop a professional development plan to enhance and maintain professional expertise specific to community vitality and Extension pedagogy.
Organizational Citizenship/Lead Educator Role (approximately 20%): Serve in, contribute to, or support the Lead Educator role. Coordinate with Engagement Zone Coordinator(s) and other Extension professionals locally and in accountability region to develop a robust Nebraska Extension presence.
  • Serve in the specific Lead Educator roles as described in the Roles and Responsibilities of the Lead Educator document found at https://myextension.unl.edu/lead-educator-position-description as determined in partnership with the supervisor(s).
  • Cooperate with local faculty and staff in a team environment to promote Extension’s educational opportunities and impact in the host county.
  • Cultivate a culture of collaboration with local leaders and community members that builds positive relationships between the University and the community.
  • Support engagement of advisory or policy groups such as the Extension Board, Ag Society, or County Commissioners/Board of Supervisors.
  • Understand and adhere to Equal Employment Opportunities; Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion; and Civil Rights compliance efforts.

In addition to the above-described duties, the individual will be expected to accept committee assignments, reporting responsibilities, and other special ad hoc assignments as requested at the administrative unit, college/division, institute, and/or university level.
Some travel is required. Must meet driver standards according to UNL policy and have a valid driver’s license. Criminal history background check will be conducted.

Recognizing that diversity within a context of inclusivity enhances creativity, innovation, impact, and a sense of belonging, the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources (IANR) and Nebraska Extension are committed to creating learning, research, Extension programming, and work environments that are inclusive of all forms of human diversity. We actively encourage applications from and nominations of individuals from underrepresented groups.

As an EO/AA employer, qualified applicants are considered for employment without regard to race, color, ethnicity, national origin, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, disability, age, genetic information, veteran status, marital status, and/or political affiliation. See http://www.unl.edu/equity/notice-nondiscrimination.

Minimum Required Qualifications:

  • Master’s degree required; one degree in Organizational or Community Development, Economics, Community or Regional Planning, Education, Rural Sociology, Entrepreneurship, Business Administration, or closely related field. Master’s degree must be completed by start date.
  • Successful experience teaching in a formal or non-formal setting.
  • Demonstrated ability to communicate (i.e. publications, presentations, web, and social media).

Preferred Qualifications:

  • Experience working with individuals, coworkers, and teams to accomplish individual and/or group goals, as evidenced by college, career, and/or community activities.
  • Outstanding leadership skills as demonstrated by roles in college, career, and/or community activities.
  • Understanding of different ethnic and socioeconomic audiences and a commitment to developing and delivering both inclusive and targeted programming.
  • Demonstrated ability to network with business and community leaders.

Criminal History Background Check Required:

Yes

How to Apply:

Click “Apply to this job” and complete the information form. Attach the following documents:

  1. A letter of interest that describes your qualifications for the job and anticipated contributions.
  2. Your curriculum vitae.
  3. Contact information for three professional references.
In addition, within the application, please complete the required supplemental question(s), one specifically about the value you place on diversity and your anticipated contributions to creating inclusive environments in which every person and every interaction matters (see https://ianr.unl.edu/tips-writing-about-commitment-to-deib for guidance in writing this statement).

For questions or accommodations related to this position contact:

Jodi Mackin, 402-469-0273, jmackin1@unl.edu

Job Category:

Faculty Non-Tenure Leading

Job Category (old):

Faculty Non-Tenure Leading

Job Type:

Full-Time

Position funded by grant or other form of temporary funding?:

No

Planned Hire Date:

TBD

Organization

Working at University of Nebraska-Lincoln

For 150 Years, A Leader in Higher Education 
Always a place of high ambition, University of Nebraska was one of the first institutions west of the Mississippi River to award doctoral degrees - the first was granted in 1896. The University of Nebraska established the world's first undergraduate psychology laboratory. The discipline of ecology was born here, and the campuses reflect that tradition, being recognized as botanical gardens and arboreta. An early institutional interest in literature and the arts provided the foundations for today's Prairie Schooner literary magazine, for the University of Nebraska Press, and for the Sheldon Museum of Art, which houses one of the world's most significant collections of 20th century American art.

Today, Nebraska is one of the nation's leading teaching institutions, and a research leader with a wide array of grant-funded projects aimed at broadening knowledge in the sciences and humanities. Nebraska is also a land-grant university and a member of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU). The university is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.

Benefits
The University of Nebraska offers an extensive benefits package that includes health, life, disability and long term care insurance; retirement accounts; tuition reimbursement for employees and their spouses and dependent children; and reimbursement accounts for health care and dependent day care. Leave policies are designed to help employees deal with personal or family events or crises.

Diversity and Inclusion
In the spirit of the phrase "Every Interaction Matters", UNL has an enacted commitment to diversity and inclusive excellence for our faculty, staff, and students. On our campus, diversity and inclusion are important priorities. Examples include: Husker Dialogues, which is an event that helps first-year students focus on diversity and inclusion and practice handling difficult conversations around difference; three Chancellor's Diversity Commissions that are charged with informing and advising the Chancellor and addressing issues of constituent campus communities; and the establishment of the Office of Diversity and Inclusion whose leader operates at the Vice Chancellor level. At the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, we strive for excellence in all that we do. True excellence requires that each individual be able to work and learn in an atmosphere of respect, dignity, and belonging. Our commitment to diversity and inclusion requires each of us to continuously ensure our interactions are respectful, protect free speech, and inspire academic freedom.

About Lincoln
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln is located in an up-and-coming and safe city of 300,000 people that has many of the cultural and entertainment benefits of a much larger city, with the feel of a friendly Midwestern community. The Pinnacle Bank Arena, opened in 2013, routinely hosts major touring acts. A buzzing entertainment district, the Railyard, connects the arena area to the Historic Haymarket. Cuisines from all continents provide the entree to dynamic urban nightlife and a wide variety of ways to enjoy time with friends. Nebraska's City Campus is one with Lincoln's city center, as it has been since the university was founded.Lincoln has more parkland per capita than Austin, Texas; Portland, Oregon; and all but a handful of U.S. cities. The well-manicured Pioneers Park, the native woods of Wilderness Park and the open grassland of Nine-Mile Prairie are each within a 10-minute trip from campus. Connecting many of these parks is an extensive trails network.

Get job alerts

Create a job alert and receive personalized job recommendations straight to your inbox.

Create alert