Instructional Support Specialist

About the role

Under the general direction of the Jordan College Dean, the specialist position has two sets of primary duties as well as ancillary duties.

Responsibilities

• As an Embedded Safety Professional: ease the administrative burden on faculty researchers and harmonize research facility management in the Jordan College by working with personnel in JCAST research facilities to identify, create, and implement policies and procedures from the standpoint of OSHA regulatory compliance, equipment management, equipment training, chemical storage, risk management, and researcher onboarding; support facilities including the Jordan Agricultural Research Center (JARC), Viticulture and Enology Research Center (VERC), Graduate Laboratory, and Food and Agriculture Research Center (FAR); position is housed in JARC and works with technicians and other staff at those facilities.
• As the primary agent of JARC: manage the facility’s daily use by Fresno State personnel (researchers in JCAST, Lyles College of Engineering, College of Science and Mathematics) and third‑party entities; directly oversee and implement policies and procedures in JARC; oversee the researcher onboarding process; lead tours of the building for visitors; manage hundreds of pieces of equipment in the equipment management system while assuming custodianship of most of them; advise the JCAST dean on space‑allocation matters.
• Ancillary duties: provide comprehensive instructional support services for laboratory sections of undergraduate courses in Industrial Technology, Plant Science, Animal Science, Food Science and Nutrition, and Viticulture and Enology, and for the inter‑departmental graduate Lab Techniques course; facilitate research in the Graduate Laboratory; perform these duties when primary instructional support technicians are unavailable or need support; serve as a liaison between external stakeholders and principal investigators/technicians wishing to perform joint research in JARC.

Requirements

• A bachelor’s degree.
• Equivalent to 4 years of experience in the field of health and safety.
• 5 years of experience in laboratory management or 10 years of lab‑based research experience.

Qualifications

• Certified Safety Professional (preferred).
• Occupational Hygiene and Safety Technician (preferred).

Skills

• Knowledge of applicable codes, including but not limited to: California Code of Regulations, Federal Code of Regulations, California Building Code, California Fire Code, NIH Guidelines for genetically modified organisms and biohazard use authorization, CDC guidelines on Biosafety in Biomedical Laboratories, among others.
• Knowledge of theories, principles, and methods in the field of health and safety.
• Knowledge of agricultural research practices, techniques, and protocols related to laboratory research, particularly in a university setting.
• Skill/ability to proactively create and subsequently adjust policies and procedures.
• Skill/ability to exercise substantial judgment and consult with stakeholders when situations arise that are not clearly addressed in existing policies and procedures.
• Skill/ability to build and maintain complex relationships within a multi‑organizational structure that introduces a new model for laboratory use to this campus.
• Skill/ability to influence and communicate with high‑