Work Location: The areas to be served are St. John the Baptist and St. Charles Parishes located in Southeast Louisiana with the domicile office located in St. John Parish the Baptist in Edgard, Louisiana. Both parishes combined have a population of 96,000 residents. The LSU AgCenter’s Healthy Communities Program is designed to reach citizens within their communities with health, wellness, and nutrition information and food buying and preparation skills with the goal of achieving increased knowledge and behavioral change leading to healthier lifestyles to impact the trend of increased obesity and related chronic diseases such as Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, and stroke.
Job Description: The Assistant/Associate Nutrition & Community Health (NCH) Extension Agent is responsible for delivering community-based nutrition education with a focus on healthy eating, physical activity, weight management, general health and wellness, and chronic disease prevention.
The agent will conduct nutrition education programs throughout the year, primarily targeting Louisiana’s adult population, with youth programming offered as time and requests allow. Most programming will include an interactive educational session and food demonstration and/or tasting to engage participants and reinforce healthy eating practices.
The agent will lead efforts in planning, implementing, conducting, evaluating, and reporting interventions that involve food, nutrition, physical activity, and general health. Additional responsibilities include participating in participant recruitment, community outreach, health expos, health fairs, and Ag Extension events. Agents are expected to highlight NCH programs in the assigned parish(es) and distribute nutrition education through in-person sessions, print media, local public media, mass media, social media, and other communication platforms. The agent will be comfortable working with diverse audiences and delivering education to groups with various learning styles. Agents will be aware of community, city/town, parish, and regional partnerships, resources, and contacts which can help support local and parish NCH programming.
The agent will organize and maintain an advisory committee composed of local government officials, volunteers, health professionals, and community residents to identify and address local nutrition-related needs. As an AgCenter Extension employee, the agent must be committed to ongoing professional development, staying abreast of current trends in nutrition, and sharing evidence-based nutrition information related to specific program topics with the public.
This position requires occasional overnight travel and availability to work evenings and weekends to meet community needs. The agent will serve under the supervision and guidance of the parish chair, regional director, NCH regional coordinator, and NCH state office staff. The agent may be assigned other tasks by supervisors and is expected to collaborate with other Extension faculty at parish, regional, and state levels.
Qualification Requirements: A baccalaureate degree in nutrition, family and consumer sciences, human sciences, vocational education or a closely related field from an accredited college or university is required. A registered dietician with community experience is preferred. Persons with only an undergraduate degree must have a minimum 2.5 overall grade-point average based on a 4-point grading system. If the applicant has pursued any graduate courses, the grade-point average of all graduate work must be at least 3.0 on a 4.0 system. The applicant must demonstrate effective oral and written communication skills. Experience in recruiting, training and supervising adults and volunteers and experience in teaching and applying principles of leadership development to both youth and adult audiences is also desired. Knowledge of public relations and the ability to cope with change are highly desirable characteristics. Ability to work with and through others is essential as is the ability to function with minimum supervision. The successful candidate will exemplify a positive attitude and a passion to improve the lives of others. Some overnight, weekend and evening work may be required.
Salary and Benefits: Salary will be commensurate with qualifications and experience. The LSU AgCenter has an attractive benefits package with a wide variety of benefit options. Benefits offered include retirement, multiple medical insurance options, supplemental insurances (dental, life, long-term disability, accident, vision, long-term care, etc.), Tax Saver Flexible Benefits Plan (saves tax dollars on some child care and medical expenses), university holidays (14 per year, typically includes a week off at Christmas), generous annual (vacation) and sick leave benefits, Employee Assistance Program, and possible educational leave and tuition exemption for coursework at campuses of the LSU System. Specific benefits depend on job category, percent effort and length of employment.
Conditions of Employment: A personal automobile and appropriate insurance coverage is required (travel allowance provided). Satisfactory completion of one specific graduate level extension courses (3 credit hours) is required in year two or three of employment, prior to promotion eligibility to associate agent. Additionally, a faculty member who does not have a related master’s degree must complete an additional 12 hours of related graduate level coursework in order to be promoted to associate agent and such promotion must occur in the first seven years of employment. An exception is that additional agent experience may be substituted for 12 hours of coursework, but not for the required course.
Date Available: Upon completion of the selection process.
Application Deadline: December 4, 2025 or until a suitable candidate is identified.
Application Procedure: Apply online at https://lsu.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/LSU (or through Workday for internal applicants) by attaching cover letter with resume including a statement of professional interest and goals, university transcripts, and two letters of reference. Paper, faxed or e-mailed application materials will not be accepted, except that in lieu of attaching the reference letters online, they may be sent directly to:
Dr. Vadel Shivers
Nutrition and Community Health Regional Coordinator
9050 Airline Highway Suite 120
Baton Rouge, LA 70815
Ph: (225) 963-6344
Email: vshivers@agcenter.lsu.edu
Website: www.lsuagcenter.com
The LSU Agricultural Center is a statewide campus of the LSU System and provides equal opportunities in programs and employment. An Equal Opportunity Employer.
