Description:

The primary responsibility of the Managing Director is to oversee the coordination of all programming and administration of the HBCU Agriculture Business Innovation Center.

The HBCU Agriculture Business Innovation Center ( ABIC ) is housed at NC A&T State University to serve as the administrative hub for national agricultural entrepreneurial teaching, outreach, and research activities.

The ABIC managing director reports to the chair of the Department of Agribusiness, Applied Economics and Agriscience Education and will be responsible for coordination of programming, operational activities, leading center staff, and conducting performance evaluation.

In addition, the managing director will manage data, records, accomplishments, and impacts for reporting the USDA in alignment with the center’s objectives.

The objectives of this HBCU - ABIC are twofold:

(1) to provide technical assistance to socially disadvantaged farms, firms, and individuals’ with interests in agricultural and food systems through the development of an entrepreneurial academy, which will offer:

(a) a professional development certification program providing entrepreneurial training, consultation, workshops, and other educational resources and activities,

(b) a “tournament of ideas” competitive scholarship program for socially disadvantaged farms, firms, and students for business startup, marketing, and fundraising assistance,

© a model for supervised agribusiness entrepreneurship beyond training to incubate business ideas,

(2) to provide workforce-oriented entrepreneurial training through student experiential learning programs.

Primary Function of Organizational Unit:

North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (NC A&T SU) is ranked #1 among Historically Black Colleges and Universities ( HBCU ).

The College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences ( CAES ) at NC A&T is the largest college of Agriculture among HBCUs and top producer of African Americans with degrees in Agriculture and second national supplier of minority admits in Veterinary Medicine.

CAES has a rich history of innovation and application of cutting-edge technology across its four academic departments: Department of Agribusiness, Applied Economics and Agriscience Education; Department of Animal Sciences; Department of Family and Consumer Sciences; and Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Design.

Within these departments, students are offered a myriad of opportunities for classroom learning, research, and field work. In addition, the college’s research and experiential learning are strengthened by non-academic units, including the University farm and the center for Excellence in Post-Harvest Technologies at the North Carolina Research campus.

Through its Agricultural Research and Cooperative Extension Programs, CAES conducts research on issues of national importance and provide research-based extension training and services to citizens, communities, and industry partners across the state of North Carolina.

The HBCU ABIC will be affiliated with the Department of Agribusiness, Applied Economics and Agriscience Education. The department’s faculty consists of 10 core faculty, 4 affiliated graduate faculty members, research associates and 10 part-time instructors.

The department offers two undergraduate degrees, a B.S. in Agricultural and Environmental Systems (Agribusiness and Food Industry Management) and a B.S. in Agricultural Education with two concentration areas in Agricultural Professional Service and Secondary Education.

The BS in Agricultural Education has been nationally recognized as 2nd in the nation for affordable online programs by AffordableSchools.net and is one of the earliest integrators of educational technologies.

The Department also offers a Master of Science degree in Agricultural and Environmental Systems (Agribusiness and Food Industry Management) and a Master of Science degree in Agricultural Education with two concentration areas in Professional Licensure and Professional Service.

The department has two new concentrations in the new doctoral program in Agriculture and Environmental Sciences: Agribusiness & Applied Economics and Agricultural & Extension Education.

The department is also uniquely positioned to facilitate research and outreach programming through its international agricultural education and outreach programming, which has sent several faculty, students, and staff abroad to countries such as Canada, Belize, China, and Africa through USDA sponsored projects.

The department also houses an International Trade Center and an Applied Survey Laboratory, which facilitate research and outreach activities for small businesses and small farm operations throughout the state of North Carolina and qualitative and quantitative research analyses, respectively.

Ultimately, the department seeks faculty and staff who will contribute to the fulfillment of the department’s vision, which is to uphold the land-grant mission by preparing North Carolinians and the greater global community with an education in agribusiness, applied economics, and agricultural education, a capacity to conduct and/or interpret interdisciplinary research involving agricultural and social sciences, and an ability to engage, build, and strengthen farming/rural and urban communities.

Internal job number: 007446

Requirements:

MS or MBA in Agricultural and Applied Economics, Agribusiness Management or a closely related field and one year of experience in the area of assignment, of which at least one is supervisory or in a lead-worker capacity; or equivalent combination of training and experience;

or

Bachelor’s degree in Agricultural and Applied Economics, Agribusiness Management or a closely related field and three years of experience in the area of assignment, of which at least one is supervisory or in a lead-worker capacity; or equivalent combination of training and experience. All degrees must be received from appropriately accredited institutions.

All degrees must be received from appropriately accredited institutions.

Preferred:

An earned doctoral degree in Agricultural and Applied Economics, Agricultural and Extension Education, or Higher Education Leadership a closely related field.