January 13, 2008
Overview of Faculty/Director UWBG Position
1)
POSITION TITLE: Professor, University of Washington, College of
Forest Resources (CFR) and Director, University of Washington Botanic
Gardens (UWBG). The Director will hold the title of the Orin and Althea
Soest Chair in Urban Horticulture.
2)
TYPE OF POSITION: Tenured, 9-month, state funded faculty
position with two additional summer months of salary and 11 months of
administrative supplement while serving as Director.
3)
REQUIREMENTS: Disciplinary strengths in horticulture,
arboriculture, botany, urban forestry, ecology, or related areas are desired.
Looking for an energetic leader with a proven record in arboreta and/or
botanic garden management. A passion to continue the transformation of the
UWBG to world-class status is highly desirable. The applicant is expected
to have attained the highest academic rank in his (her) field.
4)
GENERAL DESCRIPTION: The successful candidate will serve as
a full professor in CFR and Director of UWBG, reporting to the Dean of
CFR. Executive management responsibilities include managing the
physical, financial and personnel resources that fall under the purview of
UWBG. The holder of this position must have strong organizational, people
and planning skills as well as a demonstrated ability in both budget planning
and private fund solicitation. The Director provides the leadership to build
UWBG into a world-class research and outreach interdisciplinary center
devoted to the sustainable management of urban ecosystems.
Concurrently, the Director provides leadership for maintaining and
enhancing the plant collections at the Union Bay Natural Area, Union Bay
Gardens, and the Washington Park Arboretum (WPA) locations in order to
to enhance public appreciation for the aesthetic diversity of temperate plants,
to educate the public about plants in urban landscapes, to conserve and
diversify natural and cultivated plant taxa, and to cooperate with other
institutions regionally, nationally and internationally.
The Director is responsible for supporting the following UWBG programs
and activities and strategically improving their self-sustaining status through
increased research, outreach, and gift income: (1) public and professional
outreach programs, (2) research enhancing the broad theme of sustainable
management of urban ecosystems, (3) broadening and enhancing existing
programmatic themes by building collaborative working relationships with
the horticultural, arboricultural, urban forestry, wildlife, ecology, water and
other natural resource interests in urban and urbanizing regions of
Washington State, (4) continuing to build on collaborative working
relationships with other UW programs to enhance contributions to the
UWBG’s broad mission in urban sustainability and the use of living plant
collections in discovery, demonstration, and outreach, (5) working with the
CFR Faculty Chair to develop academic programs and mentor faculty at the
UWBG, and (6) overseeing the management of all UW-Seattle campus
wetlands and shorelines.
In support of these duties, the Director necessarily assumes broad and
primary responsibility for managing the facilities and plant collections of the
UWBG, for building and maintaining productive relationships with support
groups (e.g. Arboretum Foundation, Northwest Horticultural Society, Seattle
Garden Club), community groups, professional associations, government
agencies, Washington State University/King County Extension, Master
Gardeners, and other UW units. The Director is responsible for working
with the City of Seattle and the Arboretum Foundation on all matters related
to the WPA and for shared oversight of the timely implementation of the
WPA Master Plan. The Director plays an active role in fundraising, working
in close cooperation with the support groups and foundations, CFR’s
Development Office, and the Dean. The Director works in partnership with
the City of Seattle’s Superintendent of Parks and Recreation on the
management of the WPA; and is one of the College’s representatives to the
Arboretum and Botanical Garden Committee.
Academic Instruction
The Director is expected to teach specialized seminars, distance-learning
courses and graduate courses and supervise graduate and undergraduate
research and chair graduate student committees. Due to the heavy
administrative load, the Director is not expected to teach a large introductory
undergraduate course.
Research
One of the principal responsibilities of the Director is to increase the funding
base for research, outreach, and the maintenance and development of plant
collections at both Union Bay and the WPA. The Director is expected to
develop a research program of relevance to the UWBG’s strategic mission,
as well as take an active role in facilitating the acquisition of gift funds for
other UWBG research, facilities, and staff. The Director is responsible for
coordinating all UWBG research and outreach programs to support the
vision and mission of CFR and the UWBG.
Public and Professional Outreach
The Director is responsible for overseeing all professional and public
outreach activities sponsored by the UWBG. These activities should be selfsustaining, and should enhance and expand the communication between
CUH/UWBG and the appropriate external communities and stakeholders.
5)
SIGNIFICANCE TO THE COLLEGE OF FOREST
RESOURCES: CFR is committed to a vision of providing world-class
programs focusing on the sustainability of environmental systems and
natural resources. The sustainability of urban ecosystems is a key element
of this vision. CFR will build on the solid horticultural, conservation, and
restoration reputation of UWBG by continuing and broadening programs
that include urban ecology, urban forestry, water, wildlife, ecological
restoration and other environmental and natural resource issues. It is critical
that the Director shares this vision and supports it in all management,
planning and fundraising activities.
6)
ORGANIZATION OF UWBG: UWBG is a unit of the CFR and
consists of the Center for Urban Horticulture, the Washington Park
Arboretum (woody plant collections), the Miller Horticultural Library, the
Union Bay Natural Area, the Union Bay Gardens, the Hyde Herbarium, and
the Rare Plant Care and Conservation Program (including the Miller Seed
Vault). The Director provides oversight for all of these programs.