Academic Staff
Procedures to hire an Academic Staff Employee
The MSO for Academic Affairs is the primary contact for the recruitment and hiring of staff employees. Below are a few steps that are required to begin the process:
- Complete the Research Staff Recruitment Checklist.
- E-mail this form to Sherry Coane, the Academic Affairs MSO, at scoane@ucmerced.edu.
- The MSO will complete a formal Job Description based on the information and description you provide on the Research Staff Recruitment Checklist.
- The MSO will then obtain confirmation of Grant or fund availability.
- Once the Job Description has been finalized, it will then be forwarded to Human Resources for formal classification and posting.
Contact: |
|
Academic Staff Positions |
|
The most common academic staff positions are Laboratory Assistants and Staff Research Associates. Below is a general summary of the position description and a link to the current salary for each of the positions.
Laboratory Assistant Series |
|---|
Lab Helper (9606) -
Under close supervision incumbents perform simple duties of a routine nature in a teaching or research laboratory. Incumbents wash, wrap and sterilize glassware, equipment and/or instruments; fill, label and distribute media and reagent bottles; clean, check and replenish standard laboratory equipment and supplies and order new stocks of supplies as necessary; dust and wash shelves and counters; clean sinks; check and record temperatures of refrigerators and incubators; check and clean centrifuges; keep standard solution bottles filled; prepare labels; provide clean towels, test tubes, cover slips, filter and lens paper and keep records of supplies furnished. |
Laboratory I (9605) - Under supervision incumbents perform operational level work in a teaching or research laboratory requiring delicate manual or manipulative skills in a limited variety of tasks but not necessarily a thorough understanding of the principles involved.
Incumbents prepare standardized media, reagents and solutions from formulas for clinical, research or teaching use; set up simple apparatus for classroom demonstration or laboratory experiments; prepare bacterial and viral filters; make routine sugar analysis and prepare solutions; wash glassware using a mechanical dishwasher with the responsibility for determining the number and sequence of steps in the cleaning process; clean and decontaminate radioactive glassware and equipment; and may in addition keep laboratory facilities clean and sanitary. |
Laboratory II (9603) - Incumbents perform one or more standard repetitive laboratory and/or field experimental procedures that require technical scientific knowledge and skills which might be expected from incumbents at the college "lower division" level or from incumbents who have acquired equivalent knowledge and skills through experience. Incumbents may, when in charge of laboratory equipment and supplies, keep records; maintain, order, store and dispense a limited variety of standard supplies for a complex of student laboratories; assure availability of materials used by students in laboratory classes such as chemical compounds, unknowns, microscopes, culture media and models; set up and maintain equipment such as fume hoods, fans, emergency lights, water drains and special fixtures; and assist in the assembly, testing and operation of complex laboratory equipment. |
| Laboratory III (9602) - Under general supervision, incumbents perform technical and/or supervisory duties in a laboratory. Incumbents typically supervise the purchasing, receiving, storing, distribution and maintenance of laboratory equipment used by students, teaching assistants, faculty and/or staff personnel; supervise lower level Laboratory Assistants and/ or students in the laboratory; coordinate the physical preparation of laboratories and the scheduling of dates for experiments for a variety of teaching courses; and supervise the preparation and distribution of culture media, chemical solutions and other material for various class laboratories. Technical assignments at this level typically require scientific knowledge and skills which might be expected from incumbents at the college "upper division" level or from incumbents who have acquired equivalent knowledge and skills through experience. |
| Laboratory IV (9601) - Under direction incumbents perform business management and/or technical support duties in a laboratory operation typically involving supervision over a large group of Laboratory Assistants. Incumbents prepare and assist in the justification of budget estimates; maintain expenditure control over approved budgets; direct the work of Laboratory Assistant and related clerical/administrative personnel; have responsibility for the purchasing, storing and issuing of equipment and supplies; advise students, teaching assistants and/or faculty members on laboratory rules and procedures; supervise the preparation of class demonstrations and teaching aids for lectures, laboratory classes and student field trips; and make cost estimates of laboratory expenses of courses in order to determine student laboratory fees. Assignments at this level are primarily managerial and supervisory and typically involve full managerial responsibility for related laboratory support and/or teaching support activities. |
Staff Research Associate Series |
|---|
| Staff Research Associate I (9613) - Incumbents perform standard repetitive, technical laboratory and/or field experimental procedures and/or receive training in the more difficult procedures usually requiring a theoretical background in one scientific field. Staff Research Associate I is the entry level in the series. Incumbents may perform a limited variety of non-standard repetitive procedures or a wide variety of standard repetitive procedures characteristic of the next higher level, but without having reached the level of skill proficiency required at the next higher level. |
| Staff Research Associate II - Exempt (9612) - Incumbents perform(s) a wide variety of standard repetitive laboratory and/or field experimental procedures at the full operational or journey level of skill in one field of specially; or (b) perform a limited variety of non-standard laboratory and/or field experimental procedures requiring ingenuity, resourcefulness, and adaptability to special and changing needs of research in one specialized field; or (c) perform a limited variety or repetitive but highly specialized laboratory and/or field experimental procedures. Incumbent typically perform a wide variety of standard repetitive procedures without detailed technical supervision, usually in a well-established occupational field (i.e., chemistry, microbiology, etc.). They may also modify, vary or adapt standard procedures to meet the needs of research projects, or improve tests that are unsatisfactory, and after studying available literature, analyze and alter conditions under which determinations are made. They may also acquire and apply a body of knowledge and skill in a field of comparatively narrow scope where the emphasis is on specialized techniques. |
| Staff Research Associate - Non-Exempt (9617) - See Above. |
| Staff Research Associate III (9611) - Under general supervision, incumbents (a) direct the work of a medium-sized laboratory, or (b) perform laboratory and/or field experimental work that requires a combination of journey level knowledge and skill in two ordinarily distinct occupational fields or scientific disciplines, or (c) undertake research projects in collaboration with academic supervisors, making innovative contributions pertaining to laboratory and/or field experimental procedures which may not change the course of an investigation but do indicate a significant independent contribution beyond the journey level. Incumbents typically consult with academic supervisors on the nature and general plan of approach to basic research problems; read and abstract articles or value in the prosecution of broad research problems; organize and work out all techniques involved; plan and assign the work of at least one Staff Research Associate II or two Staff Research Associate I's advising them on problems they are unable to solve; contribute original ideas in the prosecution of laboratory and/or field phases of research; standardize new techniques and train other staff personnel and students in their use; perform specialized procedures in two ordinarily distinct occupational field or scientific disciplines; and prepare complete written reports of laboratory and/or field experimental methods. |
| Staff Research Associate IV (9610) - Under direction, incumbents (a) direct the work of a large laboratory including the supervision of a group of Staff Research Associate III's, II's, and I's, or (b) take charge of the execution of research projects or major portions of research projects which have been broadly outlined by academic supervisors, or (c) engage in difficult and complex research projects in collaboration with academic supervisors, making important original contributions pertaining to laboratory and/or field experimental procedures. Within a selected methodological approach, the selection of specific methods to achieve the objective is frequently left to the Staff Research Associate, who typically contributes original ideas of major methodological significance to the prosecution of the investigation preceding both by reference to the general body of scientific knowledge and by application of trial and error methods. |
| Staff Research Associate V (9609) - Under general direction, incumbents direct the work of a large and complex laboratory including the supervision of technical staff consisting of Staff Research Associates I through IV; and take charge of the development and execution of major or multi-disciplinary research projects, and perform state-of-the-art, complex research projects in collaboration with academic supervisors, making significant, original contributions to research methods; including authorship or co-authorship of published findings. Incumbents typically consult with academic supervisor and other academics or professional researchers on the nature and overall objectives of the research project; develop, plan, and direct the technical work of several Staff Research Associates, advising them on the more difficult and problematic areas they may encounter; contribute significant original/innovative ideas of major methodological significance to the research; exercise independent judgment and discretion, initiative, and resourcefulness in making decisions about the research; and write articles for publication in scientific journals or for presentations at conferences or symposiums. |
| Back to top |