Job Description

Description

The Department of Biology in the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences at West Virginia University is currently accepting applications for an Academic Lab Manager II.

About the Opportunity

This position provides support to the major's introductory biology (BIOL 115L and 117L) teaching laboratories.

We strongly believe in work-life balance and keeping time for things we love outside our work. WVU offers generous benefits, including:

37.5-hour work week
13 paid holidays (staff holiday calendar)
24 annual leave (vacation) days per year (employee leave)
18 sick days per year (for when you’re ill, for when you need time to care for sick family, for your own, or your family’s, regularly scheduled medical appointments. Who is family for the purpose of this leave? A lot of people in your life including immediate relatives and in-laws as well as others considered to be members of your household living under the same roof)
WVU offers a range of health insurance and other benefits
401(a) retirement savings with 6% employee contribution match, eligibility to continue health insurance, and other retiree perks. Looking for more retirement benefits information? Check out retirement health insurance benefits, retirement income, and FAQ’s.
Wellness programs
What You'll Do

Train and supervise personnel, including graduate teaching assistants and work study students, in proper handling and storage procedures for chemicals, solutions, supplies and equipment.
Train, supervise, and provide support for approximately 20-30 teaching assistants per semester in lab procedures to teach majors introductory biology laboratories. Prepare materials for the preparatory sessions and train the graduate teaching assistants on the laboratory activities. Preparatory sessions are scheduled each semester at the discretion of the laboratory supervisor/coordinator. Must attend preparatory sessions.
Model implementation of up-to-date teaching methods, in addition to experimental demonstrations, for graduate teaching assistants.
Oversee graduate teaching assistant and student activity during lab sessions, rotating through the labs.
Evaluate each graduate teaching assistant’s effectiveness and instructional skills. Report to supervisor/coordinator about graduate teaching assistants’ abilities to meet course learning goals and objectives. Evaluate the graduate teaching assistant’s performance for potential reappointment.
Be familiar with campus resources for wellness, such as the Campus Rec Center, the Carruth Center, and the CARE team, and relay the information to others. Participate in short courses and other opportunities to learn about supporting undergraduate and graduate students regarding their mental, emotional, and physical health.
Conduct literature reviews to find new laboratory experiments, exercises, and activities. Compile documentation for procedures and course implementation. Make recommendations to course supervisor/coordinator regarding setups, equipment, curriculum, and procedures. Pre-run new experiments to determine and evaluate their feasibility with regard to enrollment, time constraints, costs, etc. Help develop and design additional instructional material as necessary.
Work with the laboratory supervisor/coordinator to ensure that laboratory exercises are relevant to course objectives. Solve problems associated with specific experiments. Help revise instructional materials.
Enforce course policies, ensures graduate teaching assistants follow and enforce course policies, and works with laboratory supervisor/coordinator to update and revise polices when the need arises.
Work with introductory lab personnel on the Evansdale campus to ensure coordination of the curriculum.
In the absence of the graduate teaching assistant, the employee must be able to teach the BIOL 115L or 117L laboratory classes.
Maintain laboratory course eCampus pages. Troubleshoot and resolve problems with course pages, including managing grades online, posting documents, setting up links to assignment submission drop boxes, assuring proper functioning of quizzes, etc. Assist in downloading/exporting data from eCampus pages.
Participate in interviewing candidates for graduate teaching assistant positions for the majors Introductory Biology labs. Schedule and coordinate semester orientation meetings for new and returning graduate teaching assistants. Schedule and coordinate first aid and CPR training for the graduate teaching assistants.
Participate in New Student Orientation and recruitment activities as needed.
Assist in planning and implementation of outreach programs sponsored by the introductory biology labs as needed.
Assist in preparing the graduate teaching assistants’ teaching schedule each semester. Assist in preparing proctoring schedules for lecture exams.
Prepare, maintain, and clean-up laboratory activities for the majors Introductory Biology laboratory classes (BIOL 115L and 117L) including, but not limited to, preparing, restocking, removing and/or cleaning supplies, reagents, solutions, glassware, and equipment. There are approximately 62 and 44 sections of BIOL 115L and 117L labs respectively offered each semester for the fall and spring, and 4 sections offered during the summer, equaling an attendance of approximately 2600 students annually.
Purchase supplies for students to complete the laboratory activities. Pick up and transport supplies to laboratory.
Inventory and maintain supplies in ways that will facilitate lab operations in an orderly manner. Conduct annual chemical and equipment inventories.
Collect and maintain healthy breeding stock cultures, mainly of bacterial nature. Purchase and maintain organisms for experiments, including but not limited to, termites, crickets, aquatic snails, aquatic plants, terrestrial plants, black worms, brine shrimp, etc.
Maintain clean and safe work surfaces in all teaching labs and prep rooms. Clean and sterilize glassware and instruments and other materials using sterile techniques. Operate autoclave and other lab equipment. Collect and properly dispose of lab waste as mandated by Federal, State and University regulations.
Maintain first aid and safety equipment such as a well-stocked first aid kit and be ready to put them to use in the event of an emergency.
Maintain laboratory equipment including but not limited to, autoclave, water baths, incubators, gel electrophoresis units, balances, microscopes, and laptop computers. Train and supervise graduate teaching assistants and students on the proper use of this equipment.
Other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

Bachelor's degree in biology, Life Sciences, or related field.
A minimum of one (1) year of experience in at least one of the following: ecology, evolution, cell and molecular, animal physiology, or plant physiology-based labs.
Any equivalent combination of related education and/or experience will be considered.
All requirements must be met by the time of employment.
Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

Demonstrated ability to mix reagents, solutions and buffers for use in experiments in the teaching facilities.
Demonstrated ability of proper chemical storage, handling and removal.
Strong scientific background for understanding, preparing, and performing experiments.
Knowledge of bacterial culture including knowledge of aseptic techniques, autoclaving and media preparation.
Knowledge of stress and/or illness in plants, animals and microorganisms used in experiments in the teaching facilities and ability to take corrective measures when necessary.
Ability to teach laboratory sections in the laboratory facilities in the absence of the graduate teaching assistant due to emergency or illness, therefore skills in student instruction are necessary.
Demonstrated knowledge of Microsoft Excel for inventories.
Demonstrated ability to communicate effectively in written and oral form.
Demonstrated ability to train and supervise teaching assistants and staff.
Demonstrated ability to evaluate and resolve problems that may arise in lab experiments or student and TA situations.
Demonstrated ability to multi-task.
Demonstrated ability to make good decisions in emergency situations.
Demonstrated knowledge of lab safety procedures.
Ability to work flexible schedules, including weekly evening meetings and several weekends per semester.