| Department: |
Biology |
Effective Date: |
October 1, 2012 |
| Grade: |
USG 8
37.5 hr/wk
|
Reports to: |
Administrative Officer |
General Accountability
The incumbent reports to the Administrative Officer in the Department of Biology for administrative issues and to the Associate Chair/Undergraduate for technical issues. The incumbent is responsible for ensuring the smooth and successful execution of pertinent laboratory exercises of several upper year undergraduate courses (BIOL 345, 348L 473) as well as an introductory Cell Biology course (BIOL 130L) taught to over a thousand first year students.
Nature and Scope
In the Department of Biology there are 13 departmental technicians that are responsible for providing support to our faculty, instructors and occasionally a sessional appointment, for the delivery and execution of our undergraduate labs. As the largest department within the Faculty of Science, Biology is responsible for the course delivery to well over 6500 undergraduate students per term.
Significant internal and external relationships for this position include:
- Administrative Officer and Associate Chair/Undergraduate Studies
- Biology faculty, graduate students, undergraduate students and research personnel
- Departmental Technicians
- External Suppliers/Repair
- IST/CHIP Office
- Science Technical Services
- Science Projects Team
- Plant Operations
Statistical Data
The Department of Biology has 42 faculty members (including 4 CRC Chairs), 3 instructors, 12 undergraduate officers and 27 postdoctoral fellows/research associates; The Department offers programs in Honours Biology, Honours Biochemistry, Bioinformatics, and Biomedical Sciences. There are a total of 17 technical support staff and 7 administrative support staff. The Department teaches courses to approximately 6500 undergraduate students each term and graduate enrolment is approximately 133 students. The departmental operating budget is approximately six million dollars and total research income exceeds six million dollars. The department has a TA budget of approximately eight hundred and fifty thousand dollars and hires approximately 100-150 TA’s per term. Biology faculty bring in approximately $4.1M of research funding per year.
Specific Accountabilities
1.Course Work:
Primary role is to service the laboratory component through:
- the preparation and provision of requisite materials (media, reagents, cultures, specimens), relevant demonstrations, and laboratory equipment for the initial and any follow-up laboratory sessions for the designated courses
- the subsequent clean-up of the laboratory space with the appropriate handling and disposal of used materials and cultures at the end of each laboratory exercise
- demonstrates the proper and safe operation of equipment, eg. autoclave, steamer, centrifuge, compound and phase microscopes, Biology system, fume hood or any specialized equipment
Additional responsibilities include:
- responsible for trouble-shooting of experiments, up-dating existing protocols and assisting the instructor and/or faculty member in the development of new experiments
- recommends changes, revisions and corrections to student lab manuals
- responsible for creating and maintaining course notes
- servicing and maintenance of all teaching equipment in satisfactory working condition
- updating safety procedures, including maintenance of first-aid supplies
- proper disposal of hazardous materials
2. Administrative duties:
- responsible for processing marks for undergraduate courses (tutorials, labs, midterms and finals)
- includes compiling lab and tutorial marks, marking computer exams, providing statistical analysis for each course, and calculating and submitting final grades to the registrar
- responsible for the processing of TA evaluations for analysis at the end of every term
- financially responsible administration of course budgets – sourcing and ordering of laboratory supplies, and general prep. room maintenance supplies
- provides recommendations (and costing if required) to Associate Chair for equipment to improve execution of undergraduate laboratories
- establishes and maintains liaison with sales representatives for technical and price updates
- maintains chemical inventory
3. Teaching and service responsibilities:
- trains Teaching Assistants in specialized techniques to be used in the teaching labs
- acts as a resource person for undergraduate students involved in special projects (“Mission to Mars”) and graduate students, especially through the technical expertise in operating specialized equipment and ordering specific supplies
- supervises co-op students, as needed
- ensures that all provisions to Health and Safety guidelines are being adhered to in the work they do and done by others under their guidance.
Working Conditions
- Heavy lifting is required from time to time; incumbent must be able to routinely lift approximately 50 lbs
- Due to the nature of the position and various chemical used within the laboratory component of a class, noxious smells will sometimes occur
- Depending on the scheduling of labs, sometimes weekend hours will occur
