Physics & Astronomy Instructional Support Technician

About the role

The Physics and Astronomy Instructional Support Technician supports the faculty and teaching staff of the Department of Physics and Astronomy by providing comprehensive services including the design and fabrication of equipment, maintenance, repair, and updating of scientific and laboratory equipment, and managing inventories.

Responsibilities

• Maintenance, preparation, and issuance of materials and equipment for undergraduate laboratory and activity sessions – 40%
• Maintains scientific and laboratory equipment and supplies
• Maintains a database and inventory of experiments and equipment and the supplies necessary for their use
• Ensures that all appropriate equipment and supplies are available for laboratory and activity work throughout the department
• Repairs, modifies, and calibrates scientific and laboratory equipment
• Issues equipment and supplies for laboratory and activity courses
• Affords assistance to faculty members with the instruction of students in the proper use of scientific equipment
• Affords assistance in updating laboratory exercises
• Affords assistance to the Property Office in the maintenance of equipment and instrument records
• Maintains orderly stockrooms such that equipment is easily accessible and readily available to department faculty and staff
• Ensures work spaces are clean and orderly to ensure the safety of students, staff and faculty
• Designs or assists in the design of and fabrication of new laboratory equipment, experiments, and classroom demonstrations
• Assembles received items when necessary
• Designs and constructs equipment not purchasable for a reasonable price
• Designs and constructs displays and demonstrations of scientific principles suitable for science students with various levels of experience
• Occasionally assists faculty members with community presentations
• Purchases and bookkeeping – 5%
• Researches, specifies, and orders equipment, supplies, and replacement parts as necessary to minimize equipment downtime
• Develops purchase requests, tracks orders, and assures receipt of orders
• Maintains up-to-date financial information based on the CMS and other information sources
• Prepares and maintains purchasing and budgetary documents as needed
• Departmental informational technology support – 5%
• Affords assistance to campus ITS and departmental staff and faculty members with computer hardware and software installation and maintenance
• Other Duties as Assigned – 5%

Requirements

• Equivalent to two years of experience providing instructional support services for a unit or discipline, acting as a student assistant, or in producing materials or supplies related to the discipline.
• Equivalent to two years of college with 16 semester units in courses involving extensive use of materials, supplies, or equipment and in a discipline related to the area to which assigned may be substituted for one year of the required experience.
• Equivalent to four years of college with 16 semester units in courses involving extensive use of materials, supplies, or equipment and in a related discipline may be substituted for the experience.
• Equivalent to an undergraduate degree in Physics (preferred), or an undergraduate degree in a physical science.