Assistant/Associate Professor – Agribusiness

Ast/Aso Prof

The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences is committed to creating an environment of inclusive excellence that affirms diversity across a variety of dimensions, including ability, class, ethnicity/race, gender identity and expression. Inclusive excellence is the active process of including and respecting everyone as we strive for excellence and equitable outcomes in all we do at the University of Florida. We particularly welcome applicants who can contribute to such an environment through their scholarship, teaching, mentoring, and professional service. We strongly encourage historically underrepresented groups to apply.

If an accommodation due to a disability is needed to apply for this position, please call 352-392-2477 or the Florida Relay System at 800-955-8771 (TDD) or visit Accessibility at UF .

This is a 9-month tenure-accruing position that will be 60% teaching (College of Agricultural and Life Sciences) and 40% research (Florida Agricultural Experiment Station), available in the Food and Resource Economics Department, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, at the University of Florida. Tenure will accrue in the Food and Resource Economics Department. Duties will include teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in agribusiness, specifically financial management, and courses as needed to support our undergraduate and graduate programs. This assignment may change in accordance with the needs of the unit. The candidate is expected to develop a research program with a focus on issues important to the food and agricultural industry such as finance, management, industrial organization, supply chains, and/or risk management. The faculty member will actively seek contract and grant funding to support their program. The faculty member will engage in Extension activities in their program area.

Candidates interested in analysis of large datasets are encouraged to tie into a campus wide effort by the University of Florida aims to expand the use of AI in higher education and research. The University is home to the HiPerGator, one of the most powerful high-performance computers at a US public university. The Department is committed to support the [email protected] initiative by developing high quality empirical scholarship and teaching curriculum.

The successful candidate will engage in scholarly activities related to instruction, including teaching undergraduate and/or graduate courses, advising and mentoring undergraduate and graduate students, participating in curriculum revision and enhancement, seeking funding for the teaching program, supervising undergraduate and graduate research and creative work, publishing teaching-related scholarship, producing learning tools, and engaging in professional development activities related to teaching and advising. Faculty are encouraged to support and participate in the CALS Honors Program, distance education, and international education.

Because of the IFAS land-grant mission, all faculty are expected to be supportive of and engaged in all three mission areas—Research, Teaching and Extension—regardless of the assignment split specified in the position description.

Institutional Background:

The Food and Resource Economics Department (FRED) has approximately 30 faculty members, 10 support staff positions in Gainesville, and 6 faculty members spread across 5 Research and Education Centers throughout the state. FRED faculty teach a wide variety of courses, from agribusiness management, to natural resource/environmental economics, to welfare economics and trade theory. FRED averages approximately 250 undergraduate majors/year, and 60-80 M.S., Ph.D. and Master of Agribusiness students. Research and Extension efforts reflect both the needs of the State and the mission of the Agricultural Economics profession.

Commensurate with Education and Experience

Required:

A doctorate (foreign equivalent acceptable) in agricultural, environmental, and/or applied economics, economics, or a closely related discipline is required. Candidates should possess excellent communication, interpersonal relationships, and quantitative skills. Motivation to work in multidisciplinary teams is required. Candidates must also demonstrate effectiveness in teaching. Candidates must demonstrate a strong record or potential of publishing in top Agricultural Economics journals and have grant activity that is appropriate to the rank in which the candidate is seeking to apply. Candidates must be supportive of the mission of the Land-Grant system. Candidates must also have a commitment to IFAS core values of excellence, diversity, global involvement, and accountability.

For full consideration, candidates should apply and submit materials by August 31, 2023. The position will remain open until a viable applicant pool is determined.

The position is available for a start date of 1/2/2024 or 8/15/2024.

Nominations

Nominations are welcome. Nominations need to include the complete name and address of the nominee. This information should be sent to:

Please refer to Requisition # 523248

Dr. Derek Farnsworth

Chair, Search and Screen Committee

University of Florida

Food and Resource Economics Department

PO Box 110240

Gainesville, FL 32611

Telephone: 352 294-7673

Electronic Mail: [email protected]

Application Information

We will review applications in two stages, with the first stage using an anonymous application procedure. The second stage of the review process will utilize all submitted information. Applicants should apply online at Careers at UF and submit all requested documents at the same time; the non-anonymous information will be administratively separated before any documents are seen by the search committee.

We ask that you submit anonymized statements to mitigate any unconscious biases that might compromise a fair assessment of the strengths of your application. Initial rounds of review will be conducted using only this anonymized content. “Anonymized” does not mean that the applicant in any way obscures the specific content of their work and plans. Rather, the omission of name, institution, publication titles, collaborators, and other identifying information facilitates equitable evaluation of merit.

Documents requested:

• Anonymized:
  • Cover letter that states applicant’s interest in the position (please indicate assistant or associate) and qualifications relative to the credentials listed above and includes the following components: (word limit: 1,250 words)
  • Research Statement that describes your goals and vision for your future research program at the University of Florida. You may refer to experiences and qualifications that make you well-suited to achieve those goals, but do not include any names of researchers who performed the work, titles of published work, or institutions where the work was performed. Please include titles of journals where you have published work, have work submitted, or plan to publish in the future.
  • Teaching Philosophy: Discuss your experience (if any) and vision and goals related to teaching. Do not use institutional course numbers when referring to classroom experience, instead use generic course names. Please be clear if your teaching experience was as sole instructor, lead for a discussion section, as a teaching assistant, or as a guest lecturer (for example).

• The remainder of the materials are non-anonymized:

• Curriculum vitae
• Diversity Statement
• Teaching evaluations, if available
• Unofficial transcripts
• Contact information (including email addresses) for at least 3 individuals willing to write letters of recommendation

Selected candidate will be required to provide an official transcript to the hiring department upon hire. A transcript will not be considered “official” if a designation of “Issued to Student” is visible. Degrees earned from an education institution outside of the United States are required to be evaluated by a professional credentialing service provider approved by National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES).

Hiring is contingent upon eligibility to work in the US. The University of Florida is a public institution and subject to all requirements under Florida Sunshine and Public Record laws.

The University of Florida is an Equal Opportunity Institution dedicated to building a broadly diverse and inclusive faculty and staff. The University and greater Gainesville community enjoy a diversity of cultural events, restaurants, year-round outdoor recreational activities, and social opportunities.