EARTH Education Director

Position OverviewThe EARTH Education Director will oversee, develop, and direct aspects of engineering work force development and / or projects including progress, strategic planning, and direction;

support monitoring project budgets and expenses; expand and develop networks to identify collaborative opportunities with two four year colleges and technical trade schools with HVACR programs, and plan for and manage day-to-day engineering work force development operations.

This is a full-time, twelve-month, benefits-eligible, regular appointment that reports directly to the EARTH Engineering Workforce Development Lead or Co-Leads.

Currently, the position is designated as on-campus. Alternative and flexible work schedules will be evaluated as per ERC EARTH policy and center guidelines.

About Engineering Research Center (ERC) :

Heating, ventilation, air-conditioning, and refrigeration (HVACR) are essential to the quality of life for all humans. HVACR systems are widespread throughout society, enabling transportation and preservation of fresh foods, storage of medicines, and cooling of buildings.

However, most refrigerants used today are hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), which have high global-warming potential (GWP), with 2000-4000 times the impact of CO2.

Combined with high leak rates (direct effect 50-90% of refrigerants leak into the atmosphere) and high energy consumption (indirect effect 20-40% of U.

S. residential and commercial building electricity usage comes from HVACR), HFCs account for 7.8% of total greenhouse-gas emissions.

To address this challenge, a new NSF Engineering Research Center (ERC) : Environmentally Applied Refrigerant Technology Hub (EARTH) will create a sustainable refrigerant lifecycle to address technical, environmental, and societal challenges facing the HVACR industry.

EARTH is a multi-institution, multi-disciplinary team from the University of Kansas, University of Notre Dame, University of Hawai'i, University of Maryland, University of South Dakota, and Lehigh University.

Job Description25% - Program Management & Coordination

• Collaborate with the applicable faculty and staff of the six EARTH institutions to deliver the education workforce development activities at all educational levels, including middle and high school, undergraduate, graduate, and postdoc.
• Collaborate with the Chief Innovation Officer to promote the work of the EARTH project.
• Collaborate with EARTH administration, thrust leads, pillar leads, the student leadership team, and others to deliver the education workforce development activities.

25% - Curriculum Development & Dissemination

• Develop, in collaboration with others, updated undergraduate and graduate curricula required as a result of the new technologies discovered by the EARTH project.
• Utilize competency-based education principles to develop undergraduate and graduate courses and seminars related to the new technologies discovered by the EARTH project.

25% - Industry and Stakeholder Outreach

• Actively engage in relevant professional communities to present papers, give presentations, or attend conferences to socialize the work of the education workforce development activities related to the EARTH project.
• Network, build, and strengthen professional relationships with industry partners.
• Provide appropriate documents and information for inclusion in the Knowledge Warehouse.

20% - Operations & Supervision

• Provide leadership in compliance-related activities such as audits, reviews by internal and external entities, and requests for information.
• Collaborate with the EARTH evaluation team to meet local, state, and federal reporting requirements.
• Supervise assigned personnel, including shared personnel among the six higher education institutions and other departments / units.
• Direct day-to-day operations of the curriculum development and other personnel.
• May have budgetary discretion and responsibility over the education workforce development funds.

5% Other

As specified by the EARTH ERC Director, based on need

Position Requirements

This position works primarily on-site but limited remote work may be considered per mutual agreement between the EARTH director and selected candidate.

Required Qualifications

Master’s degree in engineering, engineering education, education, administration, business, curriculum and instruction, or a related field.

Minimum of two years in an educational administrative position and / or supervising personnel in an organization of 50+ employees.

Minimum of five years working on complex projects involving multiple partners.

Project management skills to successfully deliver on multiple projects simultaneously, as evidenced in application materials.

Preferred Qualifications

Doctorate in engineering, engineering education, education, administration, business, curriculum and instruction, or a related field.

Minimum of five years’ experience in an educational administrative position with a strong emphasis on curriculum development.

Minimum of five years’ experience supervising personnel in an organization of 50+ employees.

Experience as a secondary or postsecondary science educator.

Experience in managing NSF or other grant-funded workforce development programs.

Additional Candidate InstructionsA complete application consists of cover letter, resume, and list of three professional references.

Incomplete applications will not be accepted.

Application review begins Monday, October 14th and will continue until a qualified pool of applicants are identified.

Contact Information to ApplicantsHeather Abernathy

[email protected]

785-864-4512Advertised Salary Range$80,000 - $120,000Work ScheduleM-F 8-5Application Review BeginsMonday October 14, 2024Anticipated Start DateWednesday January 1, 2025 Apply to Job