Company description

The University of Southern Maine (USM) is Maine’s Metropolitan University, dedicated to providing students with a high-quality, accessible, affordable education.  USM’s strategic focus is in alignment with the Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities and we are seeking to become a Carnegie Engaged University by the year 2020.  USM offers Baccalaureate, Master's, and Doctoral programs, providing students with rich learning and community engagement opportunities in the arts, humanities, politics, health sciences, business, mass communications, science, engineering, and technology.  Further information on USM can be found at www.usm.maine.edu.     

USM’s three environmentally friendly campuses are unique, yet all share the extensive resources of the university — and all are energized through strong community partnerships.  Offering easy access to Boston, plus the ocean, mountains and forests of coastal, inland and northern Maine, USM is at the heart of Maine's most exciting metropolitan region:

• Our Portland campus is located in "one of America’s most livable cities," according to Forbes magazine, which also ranks Portland among the top 10 for job prospects.  A creative and diverse community on Maine’s scenic coast, Portland is nationally known as a culinary hot spot!
• USM’s beautiful residential Gorham campus supports and celebrates excellence in academics, athletics, music and the arts and is home to ten Living Learning Communities and six Residential Communities.
• Our Lewiston campus is home to USM’s innovative and richly diverse Lewiston-Auburn College. This Central Maine campus integrates classroom, community and workplace, and provides a small college experience with the resources of a large university.

Job description

The University of Southern Maine, after nearly a year of program planning, is proud to be launching a new academic program in Food Studies, to begin in the Spring of 2017.  The Program is designed to meet the needs of the region’s food based nonprofit, business and public sectors, and to enable Undergraduate students to earn a Minor in Food Studies.  Graduate students will also find Food Studies coursework available to support multiple Master’s programs.  The Program Director position is a newly established position, and is an exciting opportunity for an individual to lead the Program from its inception to full implementation. This position is supported with the Maine Economic Improvement Fund, the state’s research and development funding.  The Food Studies Program Director will provide strategic leadership to and oversight of USM’s new Food Studies Program. Primary responsibilities include:

• ensuring the new Food Studies Program is designed to be highly responsive to the needs of the region’s food based public, private and non-profit communities;
• working with the Vice President of Enrollment-Management on program promotion and outreach to achieve student recruitment goals;
• assuming major fundraising as well as grant writing for ongoing Program support, working closely with the Vice Presidents for both Finance and Advancement,
• establishing a strong partnership with UMaine in program delivery, as well as deepening existing and establishing new university community partnerships;
• overseeing the establishment of articulation agreements and maintenance of ongoing relationships with various Community College System branches as well as other institutions of higher learning;
• coordinating with full-time faculty on the development of both the Undergraduate Minor and graduate level coursework;
• overseeing the establishment of a robust internship program through strong connections to the region’s food-based business, public and nonprofit sectors;
• collaborating with program faculty in  the development and implementation of the “soft curriculum” including a lecture and speaker series, policy symposia, conferences and workshops;
• identifying technical assistance opportunities with community food-based businesses and nonprofits.

The Program Director will report to the Executive Director of the Food Studies Program.  This position is a non-academic hire that requires a long record of success in professional roles related to the above responsibilities and a strong knowledge of food systems issues.  

The University of Southern Maine (USM) is Maine’s Metropolitan University, dedicated to providing students with a high-quality, accessible, affordable education.  USM’s strategic focus is in alignment with the Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities and we are seeking to become a Carnegie Engaged University by the year 2020.  USM offers Baccalaureate, Master's, and Doctoral programs, providing students with rich learning and community engagement opportunities in the arts, humanities, politics, health sciences, business, mass communications, science, engineering, and technology.  Further information on USM can be found at www.usm.maine.edu.     

USM’s three environmentally friendly campuses are unique, yet all share the extensive resources of the university — and all are energized through strong community partnerships.  Offering easy access to Boston, plus the ocean, mountains and forests of coastal, inland and northern Maine, USM is at the heart of Maine's most exciting metropolitan region:

• Our Portland campus is located in "one of America’s most livable cities," according to Forbes magazine, which also ranks Portland among the top 10 for job prospects.  A creative and diverse community on Maine’s scenic coast, Portland is nationally known as a culinary hot spot!
• USM’s beautiful residential Gorham campus  supports and celebrates excellence in academics, athletics, music and the arts and is home to ten Living Learning Communities and six Residential Communities.
• Our Lewiston campus is home to USM’s innovative and richly diverse Lewiston-Auburn College. This Central Maine campus integrates classroom, community and workplace, and provides a small college experience with the resources of a large university.

Complete Job Description

Required:

• Bachelor’s Degree with a minimum of five years of experience in senior roles within the food system
• Record of leadership accomplishment managing an organization or major program

Preferred:

• Master’s Degree in food-related area of study

• Apply online at: https://usm.hiretouch.com/view-all-jobs. You will need to create an applicant profile, complete an application (which includes contact information for three professional references), and upload a cover letter which fully describes your qualifications and experiences with specific reference to the required and preferred qualifications and a resume/curriculum vitae .  You will also need to complete the affirmative action survey, the self-identification of disability form, and the self-identification of veteran status form. 

   

Compensation

this position is: salaried

Application instructions

Deadline

August 21, 2016