2335 Director, Ozarks Environmental and Water Resources Institute (OEWRI)

POSITION IDENTIFICATION

TITLE Director, Ozarks Environmental and Water Resources Institute (OEWRI)

CLASSIFICATION NUMBER 2335

GRADE 46

CLASSIFICATION Exempt

IMMEDIATE SUPERVISOR Dean, College of Natural & Applied Sciences

GENERAL FUNCTION

The Director, Ozarks Environmental and Water Resources Institute (OEWRI) provides leadership and direction, fiscal management, and overall supervision of the activities of OEWRI. The Director obtains contracts and grants for the Institute and directs staff in completing the work associated with those contracts and grants. The Director also coordinates contracts and grants obtained by faculty associates, ensuring that faculty associates meet all demands of those contracts and grants. The director works with Sponsored Research and Financial Services to ensure all grants and contracts have appropriate reports. The Director of OEWRI plans and directs the public relations effort of the Institute by serving as the primary point of contact for clients along with the appropriate faculty associates in providing information to clients, University personnel, students, and the public about research and the standards of the Institute. The Director, OEWRI works with their immediate supervisor and all faculty associates to insure that OEWRI operates in accordance with its mission to expand the University’s capacity to address environmental and water resource issues both regionally and nationally. Institute research advances the research and education missions of OEWRI in concert with the College of Natural and Applied Science, School of Earth, Environment, and Sustainability, and other collaborative partners.

MINIMUM ACCEPTABLE QUALIFICATIONS

Education: A Master’s degree in Geography, Geology, Environmental Science, or a related field is required. An equivalent combination of years of experience and education may be considered for substitution of educational requirements.

Experience: A minimum of five years of experience as a project director or principal investigator is required. A record of successfully identifying relevant Requests for Proposals (RFPs), developing proposals in response to those RFPs (including writing scopes of work, creating schedules, and preparing budgets), obtaining contracts, an completing the associated fieldwork and technical report writing is required.

Skills: Knowledge of the geography and environmental problems in the Ozark Highlands region is preferred. Strong communication skills are required, including oral communication with multiple audiences (public, professional, and academic) and written communication, including the ability to produce technical reports and edit others’ work. Excellent interpersonal skills are required. Supervisory and administrative experience is required. The ability to develop knowledge of, respect for, and skills to engage with those of other cultures or backgrounds is required.

Effort: Physical labor, including field work in varying climate and physiographic conditions, may be required.

Other: Scope of the position requires occasional evening and weekend work. Occasional overnight, out-of-town travel is required.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Assures the continued operation of OEWRI by aggressively building a faculty associate team and pursuing contract RFPs and grants, particularly in and near the Ozarks region and may serves as the principal investigator (PI) or Co-PI on the resulting contracts and grants.

2. Effectively utilizes the staff and resources of OEWRI by planning and developing annual budgets, monitoring income and expenditures, and managing staffing levels.

3. Provides leadership and management for OEWRI by establishing goals and objectives for the Institute, developing effective controls to monitor progress, supervising Institute personnel, coordinating faculty associate projects and providing analytical support and technical assistance to senior staff.

4. Consults with faculty and research staff in the College of Natural and Applied Sciences and other colleges on the formulation of research designs and to collaborate on proposals for externally-funded projects.

5. Develops and maintains the Institutes policies, procedures, and standards in order to ensure that OEWRI maintains its position as a regional leader in watershed assessment, water quality monitoring, and river geomorphology research and education.

6. Leads center staff in designing, conducting, and reviewing contract and grant-funded scientific research, including administration, logistics, personnel deployment, and fiscal management of fieldwork, conducting multi-disciplinary laboratory analyses, and devising, modifying, and maintaining field and laboratory research systems and facilities. Coordinates with faculty associates on all other projects.

7. Builds the credibility and reputation of the Institute by providing authoritative information regarding laws, policies, procedures, and standards to clients, the public, and the University community, particularly concerning the work of the Institute.

8. Oversees the dissemination of the results of environmental and water resources research via technical reports, presentations to professional and general audiences, and exhibits and seeks opportunities for outreach and community-engaged research. Encourages all faculty associates and their students to disseminate their research in peer-reviewed publications and presentations.

9. Assures staff remains competent and current by offering opportunities to attend professional development courses and training.

10. Works with students and faculty in the School of Earth, Environmental, and Sustainability and other departments in CNAS to support the University mission of training students for related careers by providing internships, employment, and volunteer opportunities as appropriate and practical.

11. Facilitates a work environment that encourages knowledge of, respect for, and development of skills to engage with those of other cultures or backgrounds.

12. Remains competent and current through self-directed professional reading, developing professional contacts with colleagues, attending professional development courses, and attending training and/or courses as required by the Dean, College of Natural and Applied Sciences.

13. Contributes to the overall success of OEWRI by performing other duties as assigned.

SUPERVISION

The Director of OEWRI is supervised by the Dean of the College of Natural and Applied Sciences often through collaboration with the Director of the School of Earth, Environment and Sustainability and other AUL’s. The Director of OEWRI supervises OEWRI staff and research assistants.

OFFICE OF HUMAN RESOURCES

JULY 2024

JOB FAMILY 4

Factor 1: Professional Knowledge, Skill, and Technical Mastery

Level 5.0 - 3300 Points: Knowledge of the principles and methods of an administrative, managerial, or professional field such as accounting or auditing, financial management, information technology, business administration, human resources, engineering, law, social sciences, communications, education, or medicine. Knowledge permits employee to supervise projects and/or departments using standard methods to improve administrative and/or line operations. Knowledge also permits employee to plan steps and carry out multi-phase projects requiring problem definition and modified techniques, to coordinate work with others, and to modify methods and procedures to solve a wide variety of problems. Knowledge at this level requires a Bachelor's or Master's degree with substantial related work experience, including up to two years of administrative or supervisory experience. Alternatively, this level may require a professional or clinical degree beyond the Bachelor's degree with moderate related work experience; knowledge requirements include significant levels of related work experience.

Factor 2: Supervisory Responsibility

Level 4.0 - 470 Points: Supervision of (a) a moderate number of operative, administrative support, or paraprofessional employees who do not exercise a full range of supervisory responsibilities over other full-time employees, (b) a small number of professional employees who exercise limited supervision of others, or (c) large numbers of student workers or graduate assistants, or some equivalent combination of the above. The incumbent performs a full range of supervisory responsibilities including performance reviews of subordinates. The incumbent is responsible for training, planning, and directing the work of permanent employees, and generally controls hiring decisions. Supervisory responsibilities consume moderate amounts of work time and may include general work planning tasks.

Factor 3: Interactions with Others

Level 4.0 - 500 Points: Interactions with others are somewhat unstructured. The purpose may be to influence or motivate others, to obtain information, or to control situations and resolve problems. Interactions may be with individuals or groups of co-workers, students, or the general public, may be moderately unstructured, and may involve persons who hold differing goals and objectives. Individuals at this level often act as a liaison between groups with a focus on solving particular unstructured problems. Interactions at this level require considerable interpersonal skill and the ability to resolve conflict.

Factor 4: Job Controls and Guidelines

Level 4.0 - 850 Points: The employee operates under administrative supervision and makes decisions based on broadly-stated University objectives and available resources. Administrative guidelines are expressed in terms of project or program outcomes and deadlines with few comprehensive guidelines. Decisions are based on inadequate guidelines that require considerable interpretation and force the employee to plan all phases of the assignment. Assignments may be unrelated in function and the work requires many different processes and methods and a great deal of analysis to identify the nature and extent of problems. The work may require the employee to develop new methods and to deal with many variables, including some that are unclear or conflicting. Characteristic jobs at this level may involve directing large and/or complex programs, projects, or departments in which the work cuts across functional lines or requires dealing with unprecedented issues.

Factor 5: Managerial Responsibility

Level 4.0 - 1500 Points: Work involves the primary accountability for a smaller department, program, or process. Work activities involve managerial decisions that directly affect the efficiency, costs, reputation, and service quality of the department, program, or process. Work affects a limited range of professional projects or administrative activities of the University. Work activities have a direct and substantial impact on the department. While work activities do have some effect on the efficiency and reputation of the cost center, departments, programs, or processes at this level represent a relatively minor function within the cost center. Employees in jobs at this level may have responsibility for developing budgets, distributing budgeted funds, and exercising the primary control over a relatively small budget.