Position Title
Director
Mississippi State University Extension Service
Mississippi State University
Mississippi State, MS
Position Function
Mississippi State University (MSU) invites applications and nominations for the Director of Mississippi State University Extension Service (MSUES) position.
The Director provides administrative, organizational, and programmatic leadership for the MSUES activities. MSUES includes approximately 750 university employees located on MSU's campus, along with four regional Research and Extension Centers, 15 branch stations, and Extension offices covering 82 counties throughout Mississippi.
The total budget allocated to MSUES for the fiscal year 2022 amounts to approximately $41 million. Additionally, the total received by MSUES during FY 2023 amounted to more than $71 million.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities
The Director serves as the chief administrative officer of MSUES and reports to the Vice President for the Division of Agriculture, Forestry, and Veterinary Medicine. The Director leads, supervises, manages, and evaluates all MSUES programmatic activities and has a primary leadership and management responsibility for ensuring that Mississippi State University is actively engaged with communities, business and industry, education, agricultural and natural resource sectors, state agencies, and other constituencies for the benefit of the state’s citizens. The Director is responsible for ensuring the coordinated and effective application of university resources to Extension efforts in a manner consistent with the needs and priorities of clientele through programmatic activities. The Director will promote diversity within the MSUES with respect to faculty, staff, and clientele.
Qualifications
- Applicants must have an earned doctorate in an appropriate academic discipline from an accredited university, with at least three years of successful administrative experience involving supervision of staff, management internships, budget administration, and grant writing/management in the University, non-profit, or agribusiness sector.
- Applicant must have demonstrated expertise in developing and implementing successful extension/outreach programming and can effectively communicate with administrators, faculty, limited resource audiences, and other stakeholders, both written and oral.
- The successful applicant must also interact and gain support from constituencies outside the University, such as business and industry, state and federal agencies, non-profits, and private foundations.
- They must function effectively as part of a senior administrative team that includes the teaching and research components of the Land Grant mission.
Working Conditions and Physical Effort
- No unusual physical requirements.
- Requires no heavy lifting, and nearly all work is performed in a comfortable indoor facility.
- Externally imposed deadlines; set and revised beyond one’s control; interruptions influence priorities; difficult to anticipate nature or volume of work with certainty beyond a few days; travel or irregular hours often anticipated; meeting of deadlines and coordination of unrelated activities are vital to the position; may involve conflict-resolution or similar interactions involving emotional issues or stress regularly.
- Job frequently requires walking, sitting, reaching, talking, hearing, and handling objects with hands.
- The job requires standing, stooping/kneeling/crouching/crawling, and lifting up to 10 pounds.
- Vision requirements: Ability to see information in print and/or electronically.
Salary and Benefits
Salary commensurate with training experience; competitive benefits.
Application Procedure
Applications must be made on the Mississippi State University Employment Opportunities website via the link: www.jobs.msstate.edu.
Qualified persons are requested to submit:
- a letter of application;
- a statement of administrative philosophy emphasizing their ability to foster effective outreach programs;
- a statement of the applicant’s vision for the agriculture and natural resource, family and consumer education, 4-H youth and community resource development programs of the Extension Service;
- a complete curriculum vitae;
- names and complete contact information to include addresses and phone/email for five professional references.
Initial nominations and inquiries will be kept confidential; references will be contacted only upon approval by the applicant. Application review will begin on September 5, 2023, until a successful candidate is identified. Nominations of outstanding potential candidates are welcome.
Nomination applications and/or inquiries should be sent to:
Kent Hoblet, Search Chair and Dean of Veterinary Medicine
P.O. Box 6100
Mississippi State, MS 39762
(662) 325-1131
hoblet@cvm.msstate.edu
MSU is an Affirmative Action and Equal Employment Opportunity Employer.