Professor of Practice & Manufacturing Extension Program Director

University of Mississippi•University, MS

6d•Onsite

About The Position

The Professor of Practice & Manufacturing Extension Program Director provides leadership for the Center for Manufacturing Excellence's (CME) manufacturing extension and industry engagement activities. The position connects University expertise, educational resources, faculty, and students with manufacturers throughout Mississippi and the region to strengthen organizational performance, workforce capability, operational excellence, and competitiveness. As a Professor of Practice, the individual also contributes to CME's academic mission through teaching, applied scholarship, student engagement, and curriculum development. The position is practice oriented and is not expected to conduct traditional academic research. The rank of the Professor of Practice appointment will be determined based on the selected candidate’s qualifications and relevant professional experience. The Program Director develops, leads, and grows a comprehensive manufacturing extension program responsive to the needs of manufacturers and other industry partners. Working collaboratively with CME faculty and staff, industry, and economic and workforce development partners, the incumbent identifies industry needs and develops training, technical assistance, professional education, applied projects, and other services to address those needs. The position will emphasize industry engagement, operational excellence and continuous improvement, applied problem solving, external funding, professional and graduate education, and measurable extension impact. The Program Director will also teach graduate and undergraduate courses consistent with the individual's expertise and support CME's Graduate Certificate in Operational Excellence and related academic and professional programs.

Requirements

PhD (Required)
Project Management

Responsibilities

Provide strategic and operational leadership for CME's manufacturing extension program and develop a sustainable structure and portfolio of industry-facing services.
Build and maintain relationships with manufacturers, industry associations, economic development organizations, workforce development agencies, and other external partners.
Identify manufacturing needs and develop customized or scalable training, technical assistance, and applied problem-solving initiatives.
Develop and deliver programs in areas such as Lean manufacturing, Six Sigma, continuous improvement, operational excellence, project management, manufacturing leadership, supply chain, and operations strategy, consistent with the individual's expertise.
Coordinate CME faculty, staff, students, University resources, and external subject-matter experts in support of industry projects and extension activities.
Teach CME graduate and undergraduate courses and contribute to curriculum development to include online coursework and course/program assessment.
Mentor and engage students in industry sponsored projects, applied scholarship, internships, and other experiential learning activities.
Produce and disseminate practice oriented applied scholarship, including industry case studies, technical reports, professional presentations, instructional materials, and best practice resources.
Identify and pursue grants, contracts, sponsorships, fee-based programming, and other external funding to support and expand manufacturing extension activities.
Establish measures of program effectiveness and communicate extension outcomes and impact to industry partners, University leadership, funding organizations, and other stakeholders.
Represent CME and the University at manufacturing conferences, industry meetings, professional organizations, and economic development activities.
Identify emerging manufacturing trends, technologies, workforce challenges, and practices and translate them into new CME programs, services, and educational opportunities.