Education Program Specialist

Penn State University • Ferguson Township, PA

1d • Hybrid

About The Position

The Department of Agricultural Economics, Sociology, and Education (AESE) and the Center for Economic and Community Engagement (CECD, housed in AESE) are seeking applications for an Education Program Specialist to advance the CECD’s interdisciplinary, community-engaged, and applied research portfolio. This position plays a key role in supporting strategic research initiatives, strengthening collaborative partnerships, and enhancing the CECD’s engaged and applied research infrastructure and visibility. The successful candidate will work closely with the CECD director to provide administrative and programmatic support for CECD research initiatives and operations, including meeting and event support, supervision of undergraduate research assistants, assisting with project planning, tracking, and reporting, website management, and budget support (among other tasks.) This position involves relationship-building inside and outside the university and knowledge about/experience with community-university collaborations or community engaged and applied research. The ideal candidate will have strong organization skills, be detail-oriented, and committed to supporting high-impact, community-engaged research. This role offers the opportunity to work closely with faculty, students, and partners across the University and beyond to advance CECD’s engaged and applied research mission. Experience with project management and community-engaged or applied work (in some capacity) is preferred.

Requirements

• Bachelor's Degree
• No prior relevant work experience required; previous relevant work experience accepted in lieu of education.

Nice To Haves

• Experience with project management and community-engaged or applied work (in some capacity) is preferred.

Responsibilities

• Assist in ideation and planning of CECD events (e.g. speaker series, engaged research symposia and convenings, and project meetings).
• Support College priorities and efforts around interdisciplinary, community-engaged, and applied research and liaise with other University engaged research efforts.
• Facilitate communication with and manage network of Center-affiliated faculty.
• Track funding opportunities for interdisciplinary, community-engaged, and applied research grants.
• Coordinate logistics and agenda development for research project-related meetings, planning and tracking research and educational projects alongside faculty and staff.
• Oversee CECD online presence through website management, content creation, and updates.
• Assist in preparing reports, including budget reports, for internal and external dissemination.
• Manage internal peer review processes for research and policy briefs and other publications, ensuring accessibility standards.
• Supervise research communications intern, including around website maintenance.
• Manage CECD undergraduate research assistant program (e.g. advertising, hiring, supervision, occasional professional development).

Benefits

• Penn State provides a competitive benefits package for full-time employees designed to support both personal and professional well-being.
• In addition to comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage, employees enjoy robust retirement plans and substantial paid time off which includes holidays, vacation and sick time.
• One of the standout benefits is the generous 75% tuition discount, available to employees as well as eligible spouses and children.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level
• Number of Employees: 5,001-10,000 employees