Responsibilities

The director promotes excellence in all facets of the School of Natural Resources (SNR) by:

Culture, Climate, and Inclusive Excellence

  • Fostering an inclusive culture within the school in which all contributions to the team are appreciated and recognized, collaboration and innovation are encouraged, and the abilities of all are engaged to fully realize the potential of the team, and the success of each person.
  • Ensuring opportunities are open to all, programs are inclusive of all constituencies, and efforts are made to engage diverse audiences, especially those that are traditionally underrepresented.

Strategic Visioning

  • Leading the development and implementation of a shared vision and strategic plan integrated across teaching and learning; research, discovery and innovation; Extension, outreach, and community engagement; and public and professional service in the school that results in sustained impacts that are highly aligned with the unit’s strengths (i.e., applied ecology, environmental sciences, applied climate and spatial science, human dimensions of natural resource management), IANR’s vision and mission, and for the benefit of Nebraska and beyond.

  • Ensuring SNR’s continued leadership in achieving UNL’s N2025 goals.
  • Fostering a climate of curricular and pedagogical innovation across the continuum of learners to enhance student success and advance the unit’s strategic enrollment planning and implementation.
  • Support the mission and management of SNR’s established centers and cooperating programs including the Conservation and Survey Division (State Geologist), Nebraska State Climate Office, National Drought Mitigation Center, High Plains Regional Climate Center, Center for Advanced Land Management Information Technology, Center for Resilience in Agricultural Working Landscapes, USGS Fish and Wildlife Cooperative Research Unit, and Great Plains Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit.
  • Engaging, coordinating, and providing leadership as appropriate with the IANR Communities of Practice, especially in those communities of practice where school faculty have expertise that contributes to the expected outcomes and impacts of these communities (i.e., Healthy Systems for Agricultural Production and Natural Resources; Science Literacy; Drivers of Economic Vitality for Nebraska).
  • Communicating with transparency and clarity all aspects of the school’s initiatives, operations, and challenges and opportunities with faculty, staff, students, and stakeholders.

Collaboration

  • Supporting, coordinating, and partnering with departments/schools and other entities internal to the university that support and/or align with school programming and faculty expertise. Emphasis will be on enhancing collaboration with the following units to advance their strengths and IANR’s interdisciplinary initiatives: Nebraska Forest Service, Nebraska Water Center, and the Center for Grassland Studies; the Departments of Agricultural Economics; Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication; Agronomy and Horticulture; Animal Science; Earth and Atmospheric Sciences; Entomology; Plant Pathology; and the Schools of Biological Sciences, and Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences; and Nebraska One Health.
  • Partnering with IANR administrators, unit heads, and center directors to promote and support collaborations and team building.
  • Engaging and coordinating as appropriate with Extension and research program areas (e.g., 4-H; Livestock Systems; Horticulture, Landscape, and Environmental Systems; Rural Prosperity Nebraska; and Water and Cropping Systems).
  • Nurturing a strong and productive relationship with an advisory board for the school.
  • Fostering linkages with external groups and industry partners to strengthen ties that advance the mission and vision of the school, IANR, and the university.

Resource, Personnel Management, and Advancement Activities

  • Aligning and managing personnel, financial and physical resources responsibly to maximize the effectiveness of those resources, exhibiting fiscal discipline and transparency, and utilizing best management practices.
  • Recruiting faculty, staff, and students to attract, develop, and retain a team exhibiting and valuing excellence.
  • Working with IANR’s expanded leadership team in donor engagement, fundraising, and stewardship to advance the department’s goals.
  • Ensuring compliance with federal and state regulations regarding safety and the environment.
  • Ensuring all programs of the school are administered in accordance with the university’s affirmative action/equal opportunity/diversity programs.

Nurturing Success of Faculty, Postdocs, Staff, and Students

  • Encouraging and providing support for the professional development of the faculty, postdocs, staff, and students.
  • Engaging in professional development to continually hone skills to effectively lead and manage school operations and initiatives, and to advance the mission of the school.
  • Ensuring that guidance documents (e.g., operational procedures, bylaws, performance review standards) are relevant and up-to-date, and that they promote equity and inclusion in both their content and application.

Success in the role will be measured by the accomplishments and impacts of the faculty, staff, students, and programs of the school. The incumbent accepts committee assignments, reporting responsibilities, and other special ad hoc assignments as requested at the administrative unit, college/division, institute, and/or university level.