Item 2.F-Apr. 24, 2009
ADMINISTRATIVE FACULTY POSITION DESCRIPTION QUESTIONNAIRE
To expedite and facilitate the PDQ review process, please send the PDQ and Org Chart electronically to
marshag@unr.edu for discussion and for initial review before routing PDQ for approval signatures.
Questions - call UNR Faculty HR at 682-6114
Incumbent(s) Name (if applicable):
Position #(s):
Current Title:
Current Range:
(JCC: )
Department: Computer Science & Engineering
College/Division: College of Engineering
Account #(s): New NSF EPSCoR Grant
Action Proposed: (check all that apply)
(X) New position: Proposed Range: 3
Proposed Title: Administrator, Database System / Programmer
( ) Title Change, Proposed Title:
( ) Proposed Reassignment from Range
to Range
( ) Revised PDQ only (no change in range or title)
JCC (Current
( ) Line of Progression (show titles below)
or new HR
Range:
assigned):
I certify that the statements in this description are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge.
____________________________________________________________
Employee’s Signature
__________________
Date
I/we have reviewed the statements in this form and they accurately reflect the job assignments.
____________________________________________________________
Sergiu Dascalu, Associate Professor, Dept. of Comp. Sc. & Engineering
Immediate Supervisor’s Signature
__________________
Date
____________________________________________________________
__________________
Yaakov Varol, Professor & Chair, CSE Dept; Manos Maragakis, Dean, COE
Director/Chair/Dean
Date
Approved for Salary Placement Committee review.
____________________________________________________________
__________________
Pres / Vice Pres / Vice Prov Signature Jannet Vreeland
Date
Vice Provost and Secretary of Institution
Action Approved by the President (Completed by Faculty HR):
Position #:
EEO Code:
CUPA Code:
Job Class Code:
Exempt: Yes or No Census Code:
Range:
Effective Date:
Approved Title:
____________________________________________________________
__________________
Employee Signature
Date
(Employee signs and sends to HR for personnel file after PDQ has been “final” stamped for approval)
Rev: 12/1/2008
Position Description – Administrator, Database System / Programmer
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1. Summary Statement: State the major function(s) of the position and its role in the
university. Attach an organizational chart with positions, ranges, and names for the division
which reflects the position in it as well as those supervised in the department. (This section is
used for advertisement of the position.)
The Database System Administrator / Programmer provides database design, programming,
administration and support for the Nevada Climate Change Data Portal and its associated computing
resources (computer cluster) that will be built as part of the National Science Foundation (NSF)
Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) funded project “Nevada
Infrastructure for Climate Change Science, Education and Outreach”. The position reports to the
project’s cyberinfrastructure component leader in the Department of Computer Science and
Engineering, College of Engineering, at University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) and involves collaboration
with the project’s other five Nevada-wide components (climate modeling, ecological change, water
resources, education, and policy making and outreach) as well as with partner climate change
cyberinfrastructure teams in Idaho and New Mexico.
2. List the major responsibilities, including percentage of time devoted to each. Provide
enough detail to enable a person outside the department to understand the job (percentage
first with heading and then bulleted information).
40% - Software Research, Design, Implementation & Testing–NV Climate Change Data Portal
 Research, design, implement and test software for the Nevada Climate Change Data Portal
 Research existing solutions as well as challenges and issues for climate data portal
implementations
 Design and implement software for the web-based Nevada Climate Change Data Portal, with
emphasis on database design and implementation
 Configure and interconnect data store and computing nodes (cluster) that are part of the data
portal architecture
 Test the operation of the data portal, including through usability studies
40% - System Administration and Support
 Provide user support on issues and requests associated with the Nevada Climate Change
Data Portal and its resources
 Administer and support server configuration as well as analysis and reporting services
 Configure, deploy, maintain, tune, monitor and upgrade the portal’s database environment
 Optimize performance, partitioning, database indexing, and stored procedures
 Perform disaster recovery planning as well as server backup configuration and maintenance
 Diagnose and resolve server-related problems
 Gather and analyze usage statistics
 Develop best practices and supporting documentation related to data portal management
 Configure, maintain and support database audit tools
15% - Partner Collaboration
 Collaborate on data portal matters with the other five project components, the Idaho and New
Mexico partners, as well as with other potential local and national collaborators
 Communicate with project collaborators in Nevada, Idaho and New Mexico to determine
project requirements as well as technical implementation solutions. Note: NSF has mandated
that the cyberinfrastructure groups in three similar projects in Nevada, Idaho, and New Mexico
form a three-state consortium that will collaborate on coordinating their work and sharing
results.
 Make available to the public the project’s results, including through data portal access
Position Description – Administrator, Database System / Programmer
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5% - Project Development
 Assist in the evaluation and purchasing of new software tools and hardware for project
development
 Advise graduate and undergraduate students working on related project topics (with software
emphasis)
3. Describe the level of freedom to take action and make decisions with or without
supervision and how the results of the work performed impact the department, division and/or
the university as a whole.
Decision making is critical to the successful development and daily operation of the Nevada Climate
Change Data Portal that will be built, and will impact all parties involved, including climate change
researchers, instructors, students, decision makers, and the general public.
As this position’s work is part of a Nevada-wide NSF-sponsored project that also includes
collaboration with Idaho and New Mexico climate change teams (researchers, educators, students,
developers), the ability to take actions and make decisions is important at all levels (department,
college, university).
The incumbent acts independently on matters of design, implementation, and daily operations and is
provided direction by the supervisor on the objectives and requirements of the data portal and its
associated computing resources.
The individual is expected to provide leadership in the performance of the responsibilities of the
position in order to insure the success and credibility of the project. Inadequate performance may
result in contractual obligation failures and NSF dissatisfaction resulting in loss of future funding and
may negatively affect the University’s research mission and reputation of the EPSCoR program and
UNR.
4. Describe the knowledge, skills (to include cognitive requirement and verbal and written
communication), and abilities (to include task complexity, problem solving, creativity and
innovation) essential to successful performance of this job (in bullet format).
Knowledge of:
 Database design and programming techniques
 Database administration, including monitoring, maintenance, performance and recovery,
reporting and analysis services
 Causes and remedies of performance issues in databases
 Web application development
 Software engineering processes, techniques and tools
 Software versioning systems
Skills:
 Enterprise database administration (SQL Server, mySQL, Oracle):
o Database design, creation and maintenance
o Database normalization
o Create triggers, indexes, and stored procedures
o Develop and optimize queries
o Data partitioning
o Use of enterprise management tools
o Backup procedures and schedules
o Database security
Position Description – Administrator, Database System / Programmer
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Web application development:
o Development tools (Visual Studio, Eclipse, NetBeans)
o Object-oriented programming languages (Java, C#, C++)
Database networking and integration
Software Oriented Architecture and creating/consuming web services
Developing and supporting web portal applications
Working with open source platforms and applications
Effective analysis and problem solving skills
Excellent written and oral communication
Tact and very good interpersonal skills
Ability to:
 Work well independently with little supervision, as well as a collaborative team member
 Manage, prioritize, and complete multiple projects/tasks in an efficient and timely manner
meeting strict timelines and project deadlines and objectives
 Work effectively with and communicate with end-users, collaborators, team members,
supervisors, partner organizations, faculty, and staff to organize collaborative projects
 Train users and collaborators in using custom applications
 Research new technologies to improve and expand software engineering solutions
 Develop new skills and learn new techniques and tools as they relate to information sciences
 Manage, prioritize, and complete multiple projects/tasks in an efficient and timely manner while
maintaining focus on organizational goals
 Manage resources effectively and efficiently
 Understand and interpret formalized policies, guidelines, rules, and regulations
 Research issues, provide solutions, and make appropriate decisions and bring concerns to
management
 Work evenings and weekends as needed
5. Describe the type of personal contacts encountered in performing the duties of the job.
Explain the nature and purpose of these contacts: i.e., to provide services, to resolve
problems, to negotiate.
Internal
Supervisor
Project co-PIs
Department Chair
Project’s Software Developer
Graduate and undergraduate
students working on the project
UNR Information Technology
personnel
Reason for Contact
Communicate with supervisor, on project objectives, requirements,
needs, technical solutions, progress, status, and any issues that
may arise.
Communicate with the supervisor’s closest collaborators on the
project, Geography-UNR PI, and CSE Department, organization
co-PI, on project objectives, requirements, technical solutions,
progress, and status.
Communicate with CSE Department Chair on integrating this
position’s work within the department’s objectives and on general
departmental matters.
Collaborate on technical matters with the other professional
(Software Developer) that will work on the Nevada Climate
Change Data Portal and its related software tools.
Collaborate and advise on technical matters pertaining to this
NSF-funded project.
Communicate and collaborate with UNR IT personnel to integrate
the Nevada Climate Change Data portal and its computing
resources with the other UNR information systems resources.
Position Description – Administrator, Database System / Programmer
External
The other 5 Nevada project
groups (climate modeling, water,
ecology, education, policy and
outreach)
New Mexico and Idaho
cyberinfrastructure teams
Other collaborators (e.g.,
WRCC, Reno, Nevada)
End-users, general public
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Reason for Contact
Communicate with the project’s other five components to discuss
and negotiate requirements for the data portal and determine
technical solutions.
As mandated by NSF, collaborate with New Mexico and Idaho
counterparts (cybeinfrastructure teams) to develop solutions for
sharing data and project results (e.g., new software tools) across
the three states involved in the consortium (NV, NM, ID).
Discuss and determine sharing data and project results with
potential local collaborators (e.g., The Western Regional Climate
Center, Reno).
Communicate with end-users on planned or unplanned service
interruptions, issues and requests associated with the Nevada
Climate Change Data Portal.
6. Indicate the minimum qualifications which are necessary in filling this position should it
become vacant. Please keep in mind the duties/responsibilities of the position rather than the
qualifications of the incumbent.
a.
Minimum educational level, including appropriate field, if any.
Bachelor’s Degree from a regionally accredited institution with emphasis or major in
one of the following: computer science, computer information systems, or a related
computer field
b.
Minimum type and amount of work experience, in addition to the above required
education necessary for a person entering this position.
Bachelor’s Degree and four years or Master’s Degree and two years experience as
database server administrator and programmer
Preferred Licenses or Certifications: None
c.
Indicate any license or certificate required for this position.
None