AmateurRadio on the International Space Station, Inc.
909Metfield Road
Towson,Maryland 21286
July11, 2023
ARISS News Release No. 23-33
ForImmediate Release
ARISS-USAsearch for Director of Education
Application DeadlineExtended to July 31
Overview
ARISS-USA, a 501(c)(3)educational and scientific non-profit organization, is seeking an experienced educator with extensive leadership experience to serve as our Director of Education. This is a part-time,remote position in the USA which includes a one-year probationary period.
ARISS provides andoperates Amateur Radio systems on International Space Station (ISS) andelsewhere to inspire, educate, and engage youth and communities in science,technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) and to support ISSbackup communications. For more detailed information on ARISS, see the AboutARISS-USA section, below, or visit the ARISS web sites: www.ariss.org and www.ariss-usa.org.
Responsibilities
· ARISS Education Senior Leadership: Asthe Director of Education, work with the ARISS team to develop strategies and avision to maintain and expand the educational outcomes of youth thatparticipate in the ARISS experience.
· Education Engagement Volunteer Team (EEVT)Leadership: Serve as the leader of the ARISS educationengagement volunteer team, fostering passion within the team, recruiting newteam members, and ensuring each radio contact opportunity meets ARISS’objectives of inspiring, engaging, and educating youth in STEAM/STEM andencouraging youth to pursue careers in these fields.
· Host Organization Contact CompetitiveSelection: Coordinate the semi-annual request forproposal (RFP) process to solicit and select host organizations (e.g., schoolsand informal education organizations) for ARISS astronaut radio contacts. Staffthe proposal selection team, maintain RFP selection rubric and RFP process,conduct host organization information sessions, serve as the selectionofficial, and coordinate with the ARISS executive team on endorsement of finalselections and on ensuring host organizations and external media are promptlyand accurately informed of the results.
· ARISS Education Ambassadors (AEA): Recruit,train and guide AEAs, selected from the EEVT ranks. AEAs track their appointedARISS contact host organizations to gather details and insight into how thesecontact teams are following their educational objectives as outlined in their proposals.AEAs also gather data to document ARISS contact educational outcomes, includingphotos, parent permission slips, student engagement descriptions, metrics andpost-survey compliance.
· Diversity and Inclusion: Developteam strategies that explicitly target improvements in ARISS’ engagement withdiverse and underrepresented youth and provide opportunities for these youth thatmotivate them to pursue STEAM careers.
· ARISS Lesson Plans: Createor coordinate the development of lesson plans and educational kits that supportthe educational outcomes of ARISS host organizations. Compile external lessonsthat can serve ARISS host organizations, including lessons developed by ourNASA and ISS National Lab sponsors. Maintain dedicated areas on the ARISS website for posting these lessons for distribution.
· National Science Standards Alignment:EnsureARISS education initiatives—including the contact experience, lesson plans, andeducational kits—align with National Science Standards.
· Metric Collection: Workwith the education volunteer team to ensure contact metrics and post-contactsurveys are submitted. Conduct post-contact surveys and track surveyperformance over the course of the program. Present metrics and survey resultsto ARISS executive team and prepare materials and present results ofeducational outcomes to sponsors, stakeholders and prospective new partners.
· Networking: Participatein meetings, conferences, workshops and other opportunities to convey theeducational breadth and depth of the ARISS Experience to space agencies,educators, sponsors, stakeholders, education departments, and federal and stategovernments.
· International Coordination: Workwith ARISS educators in other countries to develop best practices and to conveythe activities and methods employed by the ARISS-USA educator team.
Required Knowledge,Skills and Abilities
· Demonstrated leadership in a formal orinformal education setting.
· 3+ years of teaching experience in a formalor informal education environment
· Graduation from an accredited college oruniversity with a degree in education, education administration or a relatedfield.
· Proficient in the use of virtualtechnology, including Zoom, and ability to learn other virtual tools, such asGoogle Meet, Teams, Webex, Dropbox, Google docs and Office 365 products.
· Enthusiasm in providing educationexperiences in the STEAM field.
· Enthusiasm learning about amateur radioand wireless technologies and to enthusiastically convey these to educators andyouth.
· Must be a U.S. citizen.
PreferredKnowledge, Skills and Abilities
· Basic understanding of amateur radio;possessing an amateur radio license preferred; obtaining an amateur radiolicense required post-hire. Licensetraining will be provided upon hiring.
· Educator that has previously conducted anARISS contact.
· Experience and/or ability to work and leada virtual, distributed, nationwide team.
· Experience in coordinating experiences,lessons learned and best practices with ARISS international colleagues.
· Experience in coordinating with partners,stakeholders and sponsors.
· Experience interfacing with space agenciesor space organizations.
Location
Remote, within the USA.
Anticipated Salary
Part time, 20-hourper week salary range is $23,000-$34,500 per year, depending upon experience.
Hours worked perweek and during the day are flexible, as long as the candidate supports meetingengagements, meets deliverable times, and works an average of about 20 hoursper week.
Other PositionInformation
Candidatesaccepted into this position will be required to first serve a one-yearprobationary period. All candidates must be U.S. citizens.
To Apply
If you areinterested in making a difference as an ARISS-USA team member, please send yourresume or CV to candidates@ariss-usa.org. Includea cover letter explaining your interest in the position and why you are theoptimal candidate for this position.
All positionapplications are due no later than midnight (Eastern Daylight Time) July 31,2023
About ARISS-USA
ARISS-USA, a 501(c)(3)educational non-profit organization, is the United States arm of theinternational ARISS working group. ARISS inspires, engages and educates youthin the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics(STEAM) by providing once-in-a-lifetime educational opportunities for youth toconduct ten-minute question and answer interviews directly with crew memberson-board the International Space Station (ISS). Through these ARISS ham radioconnections, students ask the ISS crew questionsabout life in space, career opportunities or other space-related topics.Students spend about four to six months in formal and informal educationsettings preparing for their contact. Preparation for the experience motivatesyouth to learn about radio waves, space technology, ISS research, science, geographyand the space environment. In many cases, the students help write pressreleases, convey ARISS activities through social media and give presentationson the contact to their fellow students and to the local community. They alsocan fully engage in the ARISS contact by helping set up an amateur radio groundstation at the school and then using that station to talk directly with theonboard crew member. ARISS youth activities span many youth educationaldomains, including public and charter schools and universities (K-16), scoutgroups, museums, libraries, after school programs, and national orinternational events.
Recently unveiled, ARISS 2.0 represents a new STEAMeducation vision for the future of amateur radio on human spaceflight missions.ARISS 2.0 will augment the current ARISS education, operations, and on-boardhardware capabilities to provide more extensive educational outcomes for ournext generation. This will be accomplished through new, engaging educationprojects and lessons plans that will leverage our on-board space assets andinteractive wireless radio kits on the ground. It will encompass multiple humanspaceflight vehicles in low Earth orbit and deep space, including ISS,commercial space stations, such as Axiom, and may include cislunaropportunities on Gateway, Artemis, and lunar landers. These diverse,on-board wireless capabilities will be available to youth andlifelong learners 24/7, inspiring, engaging and educating participants acrossthe globe.