Work Location: The area to be served includes Concordia and Catahoula parishes. The proposed domicile for this position is the Concordia Parish Extension Office located in Vidalia, Louisiana.
Position Description The Assistant/Associate/ Extension Agent will work under the supervision and direction of the parish chair, regional director, Nutrition and Community Health (NCH) regional coordinator and NCH state office staff. This position is 70% Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education (SNAP-Ed) and 20% Flavors of Health (FoH) and 10% CDC. The Extension Agent is responsible for organizing and maintaining an advisory committee involving local government officials, volunteers, health professionals, community residents, and other stakeholders to identify local nutrition-related needs and locally appropriate strategies to address those needs. The agent will provide community-based nutrition education programming for adults and youth, geared toward promoting healthy behaviors to help prevent or manage chronic disease. The agent will also provide leadership in planning, implementing, evaluating, and reporting food and physical activity environmental and systems interventions. As an Extension employee, the agent must be willing to continue professional development and maintain professional competence and its application to programming. The incumbent is expected to perform other tasks that may be assigned by supervisor(s) and work cooperatively with other Extension faculty at the parish, district, and state levels. In order to attend and conduct programming to meet the needs of the clientele, this position requires occasional overnight travel and working on evenings and weekends.
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-Education (SNAP-Ed) Agent focuses on providing nutrition education to limited-resource families and individuals, particularly those enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Its primary objective is to educate this demographic on essential topics, including nutrition, diet and health, food buying, budgeting, food safety, gardening practices, and food preparation skills. The ultimate goal of SNAP-Ed is to facilitate behavior change that promotes a healthy lifestyle, ensuring that participants are better equipped to make informed, nutritious food choices and improve their overall well-being. In essence, SNAP-Ed seeks to empower limited-resource communities with the knowledge and skills needed to achieve and maintain better health through dietary and lifestyle changes.
The Flavors of Health (FoH) agent is responsible for planning, promoting, and conducting programs and events with a focus on nutrition, healthy eating, physical activity, and skill-building, all aimed at reducing chronic disease risk. These programs are primarily geared towards Louisiana's adult populations, although there's encouragement for youth programming when opportunities arise, and agent time permits. FoH programs are to be conducted throughout the year, ensuring a balanced schedule, and accommodating various audience availabilities by scheduling at different times and days. Agents are expected to use diverse presentation and teaching techniques to cater to various learning styles. The FoH agent's role also involves involvement in local media, mass media, social media, video shoots, Advisory Groups, school programs, summer programs, Ag fairs/events, health expos, recipe and resource development, networking, participant recruitment, and more. Additionally, FoH agents are required to engage in Healthy Communities projects annually and can collaborate with SNAP-Ed and/or EFNEP agents, where suitable geographically and where efforts can be equally shared.
Qualification Requirements: A B.S. degree in community nutrition, human foods and nutrition, family and consumer sciences, dietetics or closely related field is preferred. A baccalaureate degree in education, vocational education, agricultural sciences, family and consumer sciences/human ecology, biological or social sciences, recreation and leisure studies or closely related areas. Must have an undergraduate degree with an overall grade-point average of at least 2.5 (all GPA requirements based on a 4.0 system) and a 3.0 for graduate work attempted, if any, or master’s degree with an overall grade-point average of at least 3.0 or a current grade-point average of at least 3.0 on at least 12 hours of graduate credit. The applicant must demonstrate effective oral and written communication skills. A master’s degree in a field listed above is desired. Experience in recruiting, training and supervising volunteers and experience in teaching and applying principles of leadership development to both youth and adults 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.
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). Some work on evenings and weekends should be expected. A cell phone is required. Satisfactory completion of two specific graduate level extension courses (6 credit hours) generally required in the first two years of employment. Additionally, a faculty member who does not have a related master’s degree must complete an additional 9 hours of related graduate level coursework 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 nine hours of coursework, but not for the two required courses.
Date Available: Upon completion of the selection process.
Application Deadline: December 13, 2024, or until a suitable candidate is identified.
Application Procedure: Qualified candidates must apply online at https://lsu.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/LSU (or through Workday for internal applicants) by attaching file(s) containing a curriculum vita, a letter of application, official university transcripts, and two letters of reference. Questions about the online application system should be directed to the HRM Office at 225/578-0324. (Paper, faxed, or emailed application materials will not be accepted.) In lieu of attaching the letters of reference, they may be sent directly to:
Dr. Melissa Cater, Regional Director
212-B Macon Ridge Road
Winnsboro, LA 71295
Email: mcater@agcenter.lsu.edu
Web site: www.lsuagcenter.com
The Louisiana Cooperative Extension Service is an Equal Opportunity Employer, and applications will be accepted without regard to race, religion, color, sex, national origin, age, or disability. Information on Equal Employment can be obtained from the EEO and Civil Rights Coordinator, 103 J. Norman Efferson Hall, LSU AgCenter, Baton Rouge, LA 70803. Phone 225.578.2258. It is the policy of the Louisiana Cooperative Extension Service to employ only United States citizens or aliens lawfully authorized to work in the United States.
The LSU Agricultural Center is a statewide campus of the LSU System and provides equal opportunities in programs and employment. An Equal Opportunity Employer.
