Department Head and Professor

Hiring Organization: Utah State University
Employment type: Full-Time
Job Location: Logan, Utah
Application Due Date: December 4, 2023

The successful candidate will bring vision, innovation, and expert administration to a thriving academic unit of 27 faculty located at the main Logan Campus, at Statewide Campuses, and at several extension locations. This candidate will build on a long legacy of excellence in research, teaching, and extension and will nurture the Department’s existing synergies with the Utah Agricultural Experiment Station, USU Extension, the US Geological Survey Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, and the campus-wide Ecology Center.
Research, extension, and education are central to USU’s land-grant mission and core to departmental activities,
with high levels of integration and collaboration across these domains. Public lands and their management
are critical to the state of Utah and to departmental research, extension, and outreach. The Department
has productive working relationships with federal and state partners such as the US Department of Agriculture
(USDA) Forage and Range Research Lab, Poisonous Plant Research Lab, and National Wildlife Research
Center; the US Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station; and the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources.

Responsibilities

The Department Head serves as the principal administrative and academic officer of the department
and provides leadership and administration for the research, teaching, extension, and service functions
of the department, reporting directly to the Dean of the S.J. & Jessie E. Quinney College of
Natural Resources. The Head guides all decisions on departmental policy and direction in consultation
with the departmental faculty. The relative emphasis for the position is 80% administration and
20% research, extension, and/or teaching and student mentoring.
Additional Responsibilities to the Above
• Provide leadership for the department in all professional matters, particularly in promoting and
maintaining high quality graduate and undergraduate academic programs.
• Direct departmental affairs transparently and equitably and in accordance with Department,
College, and University policies and regulations.
•Conduct annual evaluations of all faculty regarding performance and supervise and evaluate the performance of departmental administrative staff.
•Provide leadership in the recruitment, retention, and mentoring of a diverse faculty in the Department and recommend appointments, promotions, tenure, changes in salary, leaves of absence, dismissals, and other matters affecting personnel of the department.
•Prepare and oversee the budget of the Department and oversee the expenditure of all departmental funds.
•Oversee all instructional assignments and course scheduling and engage in strategic enrollment management.
•Steward existing strong, collaborative relationships with federal and state natural resource agencies and engage in donor relations and development activities.
•Prepare departmental reports required by the dean or other responsible administrative officers and by external accrediting bodies.
•In cooperation with the leadership in USU’s Statewide System, develop, coordinate, and promote departmental programs at the relevant statewide campuses.
•Collaborate with the College leadership team and business services professionals, as well as with the Vice President for Extension and the Directors of the USU Ecology Center and the Utah Agricultural Experiment Station, to advance departmental, college, and university goals.
•Perform other duties as assigned by the Dean.

Qualifications

Minimum
•Earned doctorate related to the fields of study encompassed by the department’s programmatic areas.
•Accomplishments that meet the requirements for a tenured, full professor; a tenure review will be conducted for the selected candidate.
Preferred
•Demonstrated success in leadership and management in higher education.
•Demonstrated ability to establish and maintain positive, innovative, and productive relationships among faculty members from disparate disciplines.
•Demonstrated understanding of the land-grant mission and the ability to lead and advocate for faculty who work to accomplish this mission.
•Demonstrated experience in academic personnel and budget management.
•Demonstrated commitment to diversity and inclusion through research, teaching, extension and outreach with relevant programs, goals, and activities.
•A compelling vision for the role of the Department of Wildland Resources in higher education, research, and extension.
•Evidence of ability and commitment to develop and promote constructive relationships with appropriate on and off-campus stakeholders, including alumni and donors.
•A record of scholarly contributions to knowledge in forestry, rangelands, wildlife, ecology, conservation, and/or restoration, with demonstrated expertise in one or more of these areas.
•A record of excellence in teaching and/or mentoring at the undergraduate and graduate levels in field(s) applicable to the Department.
•Demonstrated ability to work as part of a multidisciplinary leadership team.