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NASA Office of STEM Engagement’s 2022 Opportunity for Minority-Serving Institution STEM and/or Education Faculty/Staff

Categories: Post-Doc/Fellowship, Faculty, Professional

Date: 3/22/2022

The NASA Office of STEM Engagement (OSTEM) seeks to attract, engage and educate students and to support educators, educational institutions, and professional and student organizations. NASA’s STEM Engagement community works in close collaboration with NASA’s STEM workforce to provide exceptional experiences for students, and with NASA’s public engagement workforce to leverage opportunities for reaching students. STEM engagement is comprised of a broad and diverse set of programs, projects, activities and products developed and implemented by HQ Functional Offices, Mission Directorates, and Centers.

NASA is committed to finding innovative ways to deliver our content and engage students in STEM learning. In that regard, OSTEM announces a nationwide search for STEM or Education faculty or STEM Education staff employed at Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs) to join NASA’s OSTEM team on a two-year temporary assignment. Selectees will serve as part of Cohort 2 or 3 of the MSI Fellow Rotation Activity, which will be facilitated through the Intergovernmental Personnel Act (IPA) Mobility Program.

Cohort 3- Begin September, 2022 (Application due March 22, 2022)

The IPA Mobility Program provides for the temporary assignment of personnel between the Federal Government and state and local governments, colleges and universities, Indian tribal governments, federally funded research and development centers, and other eligible organizations.

NASA is seeking two to three mid-career faculty and/or staff for each cohort, whose skills support OSTEM’s three focus areas:

creating unique opportunities for students and the public to contribute to NASA’s work in exploration and discovery;
building a diverse future STEM workforce by engaging students in authentic learning experiences with NASA people, content, and facilities; and
strengthening public understanding by enabling powerful connections to NASA’s mission and work.

The selected IPAs will serve with the Minority University Research and Education Project (MUREP) team during the second or third cohort of this initiative. Selected Fellows of this prestigious program will work and learn about NASA’s OSTEM and MUREP initiatives by collaborating directly with NASA functional and activity teams. They will also participate in a formal onboarding and professional development program, with video and live seminars and workshops.

General Requirements

U.S. citizen or national (residents of American Samoa and Swains Island),
Full-time STEM/Education faculty or administrative/managerial staff (i.e., student activities director, program/project manager, etc.) at a two- or four-year accredited U.S. (MSI designated) institution.
Letter of Intent from an authorizing official representative of the institution.

Potential Activities

NASA is interested in building rotating cohorts of fellows to help us develop and carry out strategies that attract a more diverse population of students to OSTEM’s programs. Activities may include:

Developing strategies to infuse diversity and inclusion within OSTEM and NASA’s Mission Directorates.
Establishing priorities to enhance the participation of MSIs’ partnerships and collaborations leading to increased involvement in NASA programs.
Managing significant elements or phases of an assigned research partnership with one or multiple NASA Mission Directorates under the auspices of the MUREP program manager.
Establishing a scalable and systemic OSTEM activity to broaden participation of underserved and underrepresented communities and institutions.

These activities may be tailored to the background and expertise of the candidate(s). Fellows may be placed at NASA Headquarters and/or Centers across the Agency. NASA’s remote work policy may also be an option for this opportunity.

Faculty and/or staff who meet the general requirements, particularly members of underrepresented or underserved groups and persons with disabilities are strongly encouraged to consider this opportunity.

How to Apply
Should you or your colleagues be interested in this position, or wish to nominate suitable candidates, please visit the NSPIRES website for more details.

NSPIRES website