Associate Director of Graduate Programs
College of Chemical and Life Sciences (CLFS)
Job Description
Duties: The Associate Director of Graduate Programs for Biological Sciences will serve
as the chief administrative officer for the graduate program organization of the College of
Chemical and Life Sciences (CLFS) in the area of biological sciences. The Associate
Director will report to the Director of the biological sciences graduate program of the
College. The overall responsibility of the Associate Director will be to run the day-to-day
operations of the graduate program and help carry through the goals for the program set
by the Director and faculty associated with the program. It is expected that the Associate
Director will have considerable interaction with, and provide support for, the graduate
students in the program.
More specifically, the individual will be responsible for organizing and running the
administrative function of the graduate programs in biological sciences in CLFS
including, but not limited to: coordinating the admissions process; recruitment of students
to programs, including travel to national recruitment fairs; overseeing formal student
evaluations; development and maintenance of appropriate databases; implementation of
policies on graduate education; develop, maintain, and supervise measures for learning
outcome assessment; maintain the budget of the graduate programs; develop methods for
administration and allocation of teaching assistantships and fellowships; work with the
leaders of the research areas to facilitate function of each area; work with groups and
individual students as needed in administrative areas; supervision of administrative staff;
work with IT personnel to develop a graduate program “umbrella” web page and be
responsible for providing design and content for that page; and serve ex officio on any
administrative councils developed in the graduate program organization.
In addition, it is expected that the Associate Graduate Director will be actively engaged
in the development of the new organization of the graduate program in the biological
sciences in CLFS and help shepherd the program through faculty review and review by
the University of Maryland and appropriate higher authorities. The Associate Director
will also be involved in program review and evaluation at intervals selected by the Dean
or her/his designee. The Associate Director will become fully familiar with the policies
and procedures of the UM Graduate School and work with students and faculty in the
College to clarify and implement these policies. As required, the Associate Director will
also: teach or participate in teaching seminars, workshops, or other programs in areas that
will help the development of graduate students and/or postdocs (e.g., “survival skills”
workshops); and work in other areas as assigned by supervisors.
Qualifications: The individual selected for the position should have considerable
administrative experience at the University level, including: working with faculty,
administrators, and graduate students; supervisory experience; and experience with
graduate students. A master’s degree is required, but strong preference will be given for
an individual with an earned doctorate, especially in the natural or physical sciences, and
with some peer-reviewed publications.
The preferred starting date for the position is August 1, 2008.
To apply: Send description of experience and interests, resume, and names and email of
at least three possible references to clfs-adgradsearch@umd.edu. University of Maryland
is an Equal Opportunity Affirmative Action Employer.