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Greenwood County Family and Community Wellness Extension Agent

Greenwood County is located in the heart of the Flint Hills, a unique geological formation known for its tallgrass prairie. There are 6,689 county residents and three school systems. Eureka, located on Highway 54, about 60 miles east of Wichita, is the county seat.
The family and community wellness position will focus on educational programming related to the needs of the 3,172 families residing in the county. This position will share responsibilities for the 4-H youth development program. There are currently 144 members in seven 4-H community clubs.

TITLE: Extension Agent
PRIMARY AREA OF RESPONSIBILITY: Family and CommunityWellness
LOCATION: Greenwood County; Eureka, Kansas
APPLICATION DATE: Applications will be accepted through October 07, 2019. Interviews will be conducted on October 30, 2019.

RESPONSIBILITIES:
Extension agents are professional educators who serve as a link between Kansas State University and communities across Kansas. Agents are administratively responsible to the Director of K-State Research and Extension (represented by a designated administrator) and the local extension board.

1. Provide primary leadership for the development and implementation of research-based educational programming to build healthy, sustainable communities, families and individuals. Programming will be conducted with volunteers, other community vitality and family and consumer sciences professionals at the local, regional and state level. Programming may include but is not limited to: strengthening families and individuals, building community capacity, family and community health and wellness, and local volunteer development.

2. Share leadership for the development, implementation, and evaluation of the 4-H youth development program for school-aged youth in cooperation with volunteers and extension colleagues. Programming will include but is not limited to: supporting community clubs, out-of-school programs, school enrichment, volunteer management, and outreach to create new program opportunities with existing and new community partners.

3. Share responsibility for community vitality programming that helps our communities become better places to live, work, and play. Programming will strengthen social, civic, economic, and technological capacity of communities through leadership development and civic engagement.

4. Programming will include these steps:
a) Identify local needs and emerging issues related to K-State Research and Extension’s five Grand Challenges (water, community vitality, health, developing tomorrow’s leaders and global food systems) by engaging with program development committees and other community organizations and professionals.
b) Design appropriate educational strategies to engage clientele. These strategies might include delivering educational programming in a community-based setting, coordinating events and activities that provide experiential learning opportunities, using innovative technologies, providing individual educational consultations and facilitating groups seeking similar educational outcomes. Some overnight travel and evening and weekend work will be required.
c) Develop and implement strategies to expand the reach of educational programming to under-served audiences and to make certain K-State Research and Extension is an equal opportunity provider of educational programming.
d) Collect and communicate evidence of educational program impact.
e) Develop specialized knowledge and skills by engaging as a member of a Program Focus Team.

5. Secure external funding such as grants, gifts and cost recovery to supplement local tax revenue to support and expand educational programming.

6. May periodically be assigned to serve as the local unit director providing administrative oversight for the fiscal operations, coordination of personnel, development, delivery and reporting of program impact and other administrative functions assigned by the director’s representative and the extension board.

7. Serve as a member of the Greenwood County team cooperating in the planning and delivery of county-wide programming and related events.

QUALIFICATIONS

Required:
• Bachelor’s degree
• Academic coursework and/or professional development and professional employment related to the position responsibilities
• Evidence of strong academic and/or professional performance as documented by college transcripts, acceptance into a graduate program or documented success in increasingly responsible professional positions.
• Ability to communicate effectively, both orally and in writing, with individuals, groups and through mass media.
• Leadership skills as evidenced by working with individuals, groups and co-workers.
• Access to a personal vehicle and the ability to obtain/maintain a valid driver’s license.

Preferred:
• Master’s Degree.
• Experience working with adults and youth from various ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds.
• Commitment to personal professional development.
• Ability to utilize electronic communication and computer applications to fulfill programming responsibilities.
• Self-motivation and ability to work with a minimum of supervision, balancing multiple projects.
• Ability to design, promote, implement and evaluate educational programs.
• Skills in group facilitation.
• Knowledge of adult and youth teaching/learning processes.
• Experience in seeking and administering external grant funding.

Other
• Applicants must be currently authorized to work in the United States at the time of employment.

SALARY, BENEFITS, AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

1. Salary commensurate with professional experience and available funding as negotiated by the regional extension director, the local extension board and the applicant. The base starting salary is $41,500 for a BS degree with no professional experience and $45,500 for a MS degree with no professional experience.
2. Extension agents are Kansas State University educators and have the Board of Regents retirement plan, health and life insurance and vacation and sick leave. Depending on the date of hire there is a minimum of 30-day waiting period for health insurance. For a complete list of benefits see: http://www.k-state.edu/hcs/benefits/overview/
3. Reimbursement for travel related to achieving program objectives.
4. New agents are provided approximately 15 days of new agent professional development on the K-State campus during the first six to nine months. These 15 days are spread out in four different weeks. In addition, new agents spend at least three weeks with a mentor agent during the first year.

APPLICATION PROCEDURE

Submit application using the Kansas State University job application site:
https://careers.k-state.edu/cw/en-us/job/508095/greenwood-county-family-and-community-wellness-extension-agent
For more information about the position, contact Jennifer Wilson, Leader, Ext Operations, 785-532-5790, or jrwilson@ksu.edu.
To hear personal accounts from Extension Agents, preview videos at www.ksre.k-state.edu/jobs.
For more information about K-State Research and Extension, visit: www.ksre.k-state.edu.

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY: Kansas State University is an Equal Opportunity Employer of individuals with disabilities and protected veterans and actively seeks diversity among its employees.