Education/Training Spec II
About The Position
Under the supervision of the Assistant Director and the Project PI, this position will provide local leadership on recruitment, collaborative partnerships, and educational delivery for the UF/IFAS Books and Cooks program. This position will work closely with the state team to develop and implement plans for recruitment, partnerships, educational delivery, and project evaluation in Alachua County. Additionally, this role will support New Worlds Reading engagement efforts in Alachua, Gilchrist, Dixie, and Levy Counties. The position is time-limited. Project Overview The UF/IFAS Books & Cooks program is focused on improving the literacy and nutrition security of Florida families. The project is a collaboration with UF’s College of Education Lastinger Center New Worlds Reading Initiative (https://www.newworldsreading.com/fl/en/home.html), which is a at-home literacy program that delivers books and resources to eligible Florida students K-5. The Books & Cooks program is responsible for: (1) recruiting and enrolling families into the New Worlds Reading Initiative (2) developing local partnerships through county-level steering committees to guide New Worlds Reading engagement and educational delivery. (3) delivering the Books & Cooks educational curriculum to increase family literacy capacities and improve nutrition security status. (4) optimizing program quality and assessing the achievement of outcomes through formative and summative evaluation of the Books & Cooks Program. The Books & Cooks Education Specialist will be responsible for all program activities at the local level, including participant recruitment, New Worlds Reading engagement, development of partnerships, educational delivery to families, managing data collection, and providing regular reports of project progress and achievements.
Requirements
- Bachelor's degree in an appropriate area and four years of relevant experience, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
Nice To Haves
- Master's degree in an area of specialization
- Capacity to effectively deliver educational lessons to parents and children.
- Experience with family literacy, nutrition/food security, and parent-child education.
- Ability to contribute to a positive, productive team environment using leadership, communication, and interpersonal skills.
- Ability to work collaboratively and engage relevant partners and institutions.
- Ability to form and maintain positive working relationships with colleagues locally and throughout the state, as well as Extension colleagues and program partners.
- Demonstrate a courteous and helpful manner, and a respect and appreciation for diversity in all its forms.
- Ability to maintain working files and revisions of documents.
- Proficient with Word, Excel, TEAMS, and PowerPoint, and able to quickly learn basics of new software.
- Ability to maximize digital tools for productivity, communication, and organization.
- A high degree of accuracy and timeliness in all work.
- Demonstrate a strong work ethic, dependability, and resourcefulness.
- Ability to maintain complete and organized records.
- Strong analytical, critical thinking, problem-solving and decision-making skills.
- Willingness and ability to travel independently.
Responsibilities
- Delivering the Books & Cooks educational sessions to families
- Recruit families with children in K-5 grade for educational sessions
- Identify appropriate locations for educational sessions
- Purchase ingredients used throughout educational sessions
- Develop local engagement plans
- Coordinate with Extension and other key partners on engagement activities
- Develop partnerships and build relationships with local partners such as literacy organizations, food banks, local schools, and libraries
- Attend meetings and events to distribute engagement materials
- Make brief presentations to interested groups to raise awareness of New Worlds Reading and Books & Cooks
- Plan and deliver major recruitment events
- Develop partnerships and build relationships with local partners such as literacy organizations, food banks, local schools, and libraries
- Identify potential steering committee members
- Convene and facilitate meetings of the Steering Committee
- Participate in qualitative analysis of information generated from steering committee meetings
- Incorporate Steering Committee guidance into local plans and share approaches with the statewide team
- Manage all data collection at the local level
- Participate in weekly project meetings
- Complete timely monthly and annual reports
- Attend training events and meetings
- Complete timely reports as requested by FNP state office or County Extension Director (CED). Reports may include success stories and programmatic activities
- Complete annual county plan(s) and budget(s)
- Monitor progress toward and fulfillment of specific contract or program goals
- Ensure integrity, quality and accuracy of programmatic records
- Review travel expense reports, grocery receipts and staff work logs
- Other duties as assigned by the supervisor, PI, or Co-PIs, provided they are allowed by the rules of the grant.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Mid Level
