The Program Leader fosters an inclusive culture in which all contributions to Rural Prosperity Nebraska 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 each contributor. The Program Leader supports those contributing to Rural Prosperity Nebraska in the responsible management of resources to maximize the impact and effectiveness of those resources. They seek for and responsibly deploy and manage resources that will facilitate achievement of strategic goals. The Program Leader ensures opportunities are open to all, programs and initiatives are inclusive of all constituencies, and efforts are made to engage diverse audiences, especially those that are traditionally underrepresented. The Program Leader creates a shared vision for Rural Prosperity Nebraska in partnership with the Director of Rural Prosperity Nebraska and with input from faculty, staff, partnering stakeholders and community leaders. This shared vision will be continuously examined for relevancy and refreshed as needed.
The Program Leader is the programmatic lead within Nebraska Extension for catalyzing relationships with community leaders and mobilizing university assets to move scholarship into practice. The Program Leader supervises and nurtures the success of county- and academic unit-based Extension Educators whose programming is focused on the following dimensions of rural community prosperity and vitality: people attraction; community leadership development; community economic development; facilitating connections between people and the places they share (place making); and regional food systems. The Program Leader engages in relevant high impact evidence-based programming that is a model for others working in the area of rural community prosperity and vitality. The Program Leader will be successful in bringing programming to scale and increasing its impact through financial support obtained through grants, contracts, and/or other appropriate sources.
Expected community-level outcomes include: 1) identification of actionable development needs and opportunities; 2) development of relevant and effective community engagement strategies based on enduring relationships with community leaders and within communities, and 3) demonstrable increases in locally driven strategies and solutions contributing to community and economic prosperity in rural communities that are attributable to the efforts of faculty within the Rural Prosperity Nebraska team.
Specific duties and responsibilities that may not be evident above include the following:
- Promote excellence in all facets of Rural Prosperity Nebraska.
- Identify needs and facilitate access to educational opportunities within the assigned geographic accountability region;
- Establish strategic linkages with community, industry, and government leaders, and other key constituencies to identify critical emerging issues and opportunities.
- Coordinate broad-based interdisciplinary teams operating in a culture of collaboration, creativity, inclusion, innovation and entrepreneurship, to demonstrate a robust commitment to deliver outcomes and impacts addressing critical issues facing rural Nebraska communities.
- Engage and coordinate with external partners and collaborate with state and federal agencies to inform and leverage UNL resources.
- Supervise county-based Extension Educators contributing to Rural Prosperity Nebraska goals and objectives. Core to this responsibility is the ability to coach Educators in outreach and engagement with community leaders and residents.
- Assist faculty members contributing to Rural Prosperity Nebraska by identifying and/or facilitating the identification of funding opportunities and other resources that can be leveraged to bring programming and initiatives to scale to increase impact of faculty efforts.
- Implement strategies to strengthen resources deployed across the state to accomplish Rural Prosperity Nebraska goals, this includes helping faculty members maximize existing resources through partnerships, collaborations, and sound resource management practices.
- Contribute, as appropriate and as identified in guidance documents, to the evaluation of faculty members contributing to Rural Prosperity Nebraska.
- Communicate with transparency, integrity, and clarity to faculty, staff, partners and the citizens of Nebraska.
In addition to the Director of Rural Prosperity Nebraska, key partners for the Program Leader within IANR include: the administrative leaders of the departments of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication, Child, Youth and Family Studies, and Nutrition and Health Sciences (NHS), respectively; the Engagement Zone Coordinators; their peer Extension Focus Area Program Leaders; and the Directors of IANR’s Research, Extension, and Education Centers.
The Program Leader accepts committee assignments, reporting responsibilities, and other special ad hoc assignments as requested at the administrative unit, college/division, institute and/or university level.