With the impending retirement of UM Professor of Chemical Engineering Dr. Peter Sukanek, the Vice Chancellor for Research and Sponsored Programs is seeking nominations (including self-nominations, endorsed by faculty member’s chair or dean) of UM faculty members interested in becoming Interim Director of the Mississippi Space Grant Consortium (MSSGC).

Over six months, the selected candidate will work with VCRSP to develop a 5-year strategic vision for the MSSGC, and present that plan to the full MSSGC for endorsement.

With the assistance of a full-time project coordinator, the Interim Director’s duties will include: 

• Oversees financial planning, budgets, and reporting for the MSSGC
• Establishes policy and direction to the 15 MSSGC affiliate institutions
• Serves as local POC for NASA HQ in Space Grant activities and Congressional requests
• Develops and maintains relationships with NASA, NASA Centers, other space grant consortia, and MSSGC member institutions as well as partners from K-12 and industry
• Reviews and evaluates all NASA/MSSGC Fellow applications, NASA Centers’ internships applications and Industry internships’ applications
• Oversees and reviews all proposals for the MSSGC Research Infrastructure Program. 
• Reports to the UM VCRSP and addresses any requests for information from the Mississippi Research Consortium (MRC)
• Oversees NASA/MSSGC Graduate Fellows Program; evaluates all fellows applications
• Oversees NASA Centers Student Internship Program; evaluates internship applications
• Oversees NASA Industry Internships Program; evaluates industry internship applications
• Administers federal funding for research infrastructure development through mini-grants to MSSGC affiliate members and other programs
• Oversees the development of competitive funding proposals to NASA Space Grant and NASA EPSCoR

The compensation for the Interim Director is in the form of partial salary support; a portion of the Interim Director’s salary will be used to help meet program cost share requirements.

Nominations (including self-nominations) should be e-mailed to Jason Hale by 5PM, August 11, 2014, and include a cover letter, and two-page biosketch or resume highlighting research and/or education experience and qualifications, relevant to the NASA mission, the Space Grant Program, and/or NASA EPSCoR. All who think they even MIGHT be interested are encouraged to submit. Only U.S. citizens are eligible to receive NASA Space Grant funds.

To learn about the MS Space Grant Consortium, see: http://ms.spacegrant.org.

To learn about the NASA EPSCoR program, see: http://ms.spacegrant.org/index.php?page=mssgc-epscor.

For questions about the process, contact Jason Hale (jghale@olemiss.edu).