Administrative Associate

The Administrative Associate position involves general assistance with the day-to-day needs and functioning of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Engineering Research Center (ERC) - Environmentally Applied Refrigerant Technology Hub (EARTH) for faculty, staff, and students. The position reports to the ERC Earth Administrative Director. The Administrative Associate must have strong communication, organization, and computer skills. Duties for the position cover a wide range of responsibilities including, but not limited to, serving as the main EARTH receptionist, managing director and EARTH faculty scheduling, managing conference rooms, assisting with faculty and guest travel, creating itineraries for visiting scholars, taking meeting minutes, managing office (and some lab) supplies, assisting with ordering supplies and materials, EARTH on-boarding/off-boarding, updating directories and contact lists, scheduling EARTH meetings and safety meetings, organizing special projects (e.g., organizing EARTH site visits, candidate interviews). This position is located at the University of Kansas - Lawrence campus, and is an in-person position.

About Engineering Research Center:
Heating, ventilation, air-conditioning, and refrigeration (HVACR) are essential to the quality of life for all humans. HVACR systems are widespread throughout society, enabling transportation and preservation of fresh foods, storage of medicines, and cooling of buildings. However, most refrigerants used today are hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), which have high global-warming potential (GWP), with 2000-4000 times the impact of CO2. Combined with high leak rates (direct effect -- 50-90% of refrigerants leak into the atmosphere) and high energy consumption (indirect effect -- 20-40% of U.S. residential and commercial building electricity usage comes from HVACR), HFCs account for 7.8% of total greenhouse-gas emissions.

To address this challenge, a new NSF Engineering Research Center (ERC): Environmentally Applied Refrigerant Technology Hub (EARTH) will create a "sustainable refrigerant lifecycle" to address technical, environmental, and societal challenges facing the HVACR industry. EARTH is a multi-institution, multi-disciplinary team from the University of Kansas, University of Notre Dame, University of Hawai'i, University of Maryland, University of South Dakota, and Lehigh University.