Announcement for Position
Director of the New Jersey Space Grant Consortium

The New Jersey Space Grant Consortium (NJSGC) is part of NASA's Space Grant Fellowship and Scholarship Program, which funds 52 consortia (50 states, plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico). The state consortia use their funding to create state-wide educational networks to promote STEM and aerospace education and workforce development, to develop fellowship and research programs in STEM and aerospace, to foster aerospace research, to develop programs for teacher training, to develop informal education activities, and to strive for diversity of human resources in all program aspects.

NJSGC is active in all areas of the NASA Space Grant program. Our consortium consists of affiliate member institutions, which primarily are the major universities in New Jersey, as well as STEM and aerospace educational and outreach organizations. We are looking for a talented individual to fill the position of director.

Duties of the director of NJSGC are to lead the consortium in compliance with NASA guidelines, to provide vision and new ideas, to develop new programs, to hire and supervise personnel, to attend Space Grant conferences and to perform all necessary liaisons with the affiliate organizations and with NASA. The director insures effective budget management, data collection and reporting through annual reports and the on-line NASA system, longitudinal tracking of student participants, and proposal writing. The director is also responsible for creating a statewide network for STEM and aerospace education and for workforce development, and to seek other sources of support for NJSGC activities. The director is expected to leverage consortium activities with NASA, industry, other federal programs and with N.J. state government. The director is expected to participate in and contribute to the development of the national Space Grant network.

Successful Space Grant directors provide for and facilitate consortium strategic planning, program evaluation, and consortium communication. The director ensures diversity of human resources in all program aspects and fully implements a state-based consortium concept.

Individuals eligible for the position of director are: faculty members or administrators with tenured or tenure-track appointments in one of the research universities in New Jersey. Per NASA requirements, the director must be a U.S. citizen. Familiarity with Space Grant and a track record of partnering with or administering NASA programs is a plus. The academic institution with which the director is affiliated, which will become the lead institution of the consortium, should have strong science or engineering programs and it should agree to host the consortium and provide adequate office space to conduct consortium business, including director's office and space for student activities.

The salary for the position is as follows: One month summer support with 25% release time (the cost to be shared by NASA and the lead institution). The lead institution must agree to meet the required non-federal match of one-to-one for all program funds. The starting date for the position is November 1, 2008.

Applicants should send:

1) A cover letter describing relevant work experience and goals for NJSGC;
2) A resume, together with names of three references;
3) A letter of institutional intent by a representative (e.g., Dean, Provost) of the applicant's university indicating that the university agrees to host NJSGC, to provide space for NJSGC, to provide the one-to-one match of the NASA funds, and that they approve of the candidate's application for director of NJSGC.

Please send all documents by October 15, 2008 October 24, 2008 to:

Mr. Joseph S. Miles, Program Coordinator
The New Jersey Space Grant Consortium
Stevens Institute of Technology
Castle Point on the Hudson
Hoboken, New Jersey 07030

For more information, see the NJSGC web site, www.njsgc.org, or the NASA Space Grant web site, http://education.nasa.gov/edprograms/national/spacegrant/home/index.html, or contact Prof. Haim Baruh, Interim Director, at 732-445-3680 or baruh@jove.rutgers.edu, or contact any of the affiliate representatives.