Assistant/Associate Extension Agent (Nutrition and Community Health/SNAP-Ed Program)

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Job Posting Title:

Assistant/Associate Extension Agent (Nutrition and Community Health/SNAP-Ed Program)

   

Position Type:

Faculty

   

Department:

LSUAG PL4 - Northeast Region (Melissa D Cater (00002478))

   

Work Location:

Concordia Parish Extension Office

   

Pay Grade:

Academic

   

Job Description:

Work Location:  The area to be served includes Concordia and Catahoula parishes.  The proposed domicile for this position is the Concordia Parish Extension Office located in Vidalia, Louisiana. 

Position Description The Assistant/Associate/ Extension Agent will work under the supervision and direction of the parish chair, regional director, Nutrition and Community Health (NCH) regional coordinator and NCH state office staff. This position is 70% Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education (SNAP-Ed) and 20% Flavors of Health (FoH) and 10% CDC. The Extension Agent is responsible for organizing and maintaining an advisory committee involving local government officials, volunteers, health professionals, community residents, and other stakeholders to identify local nutrition-related needs and locally appropriate strategies to address those needs. The agent will provide community-based nutrition education programming for adults and youth, geared toward promoting healthy behaviors to help prevent or manage chronic disease. The agent will also provide leadership in planning, implementing, evaluating, and reporting food and physical activity environmental and systems interventions. As an Extension employee, the agent must be willing to continue professional development and maintain professional competence and its application to programming. The incumbent is expected to perform other tasks that may be assigned by supervisor(s) and work cooperatively with other Extension faculty at the parish, district, and state levels. In order to attend and conduct programming to meet the needs of the clientele, this position requires occasional overnight travel and working on evenings and weekends.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-Education (SNAP-Ed) Agent focuses on providing nutrition education to limited-resource families and individuals, particularly those enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Its primary objective is to educate this demographic on essential topics, including nutrition, diet and health, food buying, budgeting, food safety, gardening practices, and food preparation skills. The ultimate goal of SNAP-Ed is to facilitate behavior change that promotes a healthy lifestyle, ensuring that participants are better equipped to make informed, nutritious food choices and improve their overall well-being. In essence, SNAP-Ed seeks to empower limited-resource communities with the knowledge and skills needed to achieve and maintain better health through dietary and lifestyle changes.

The Flavors of Health (FoH) agent is responsible for planning, promoting, and conducting programs and events with a focus on nutrition, healthy eating, physical activity, and skill-building, all aimed at reducing chronic disease risk. These programs are primarily geared towards Louisiana's adult populations, although there's encouragement for youth programming when opportunities arise, and agent time permits. FoH programs are to be conducted throughout the year, ensuring a balanced schedule, and accommodating various audience availabilities by scheduling at different times and days. Agents are expected to use diverse presentation and teaching techniques to cater to various learning styles. The FoH agent's role also involves involvement in local media, mass media, social media, video shoots, Advisory Groups, school programs, summer programs, Ag fairs/events, health expos, recipe and resource development, networking, participant recruitment, and more. Additionally, FoH agents are required to engage in Healthy Communities projects annually and can collaborate with SNAP-Ed and/or EFNEP agents, where suitable geographically and where efforts can be equally shared.

Qualification Requirements: A B.S. degree in community nutrition, human foods and nutrition, family and consumer sciences, dietetics or closely related field is preferred. A baccalaureate degree in education, vocational education, agricultural sciences, family and consumer sciences/human ecology, biological or social sciences, recreation and leisure studies or closely related areas. M