Microbiology Technician

Cal Poly Pomona; Pomona (CA); On-site; USD 56,000 - 62,000; Full time

Job summary

Cal Poly Pomona's Biological Sciences Department seeks a Microbiology Technician to support undergraduate and graduate microbiology teaching and research. You will work with faculty, graduate teaching associates, and student assistants to ensure lab readiness and safety for BIO 2060L through BIO 4690L.

Responsibilities include preparing cultures, media, PPE, and laboratory materials; maintaining stockrooms and equipment; coordinating with other staff to sustain over 500 students per semester.

Job description

Microbiology Technician

Job No: 562070

Work Type: Staff

Location: Pomona

Categories: Unit 9 - CSUEU - Technical Support Services,Administrative, Probationary, Full Time, On-site (work in-person atbusiness location)

Type of Appointment: Full-Time, Probationary

Job Classification: Instructional SupportTechnician III

Anticipated Hiring Range:$5,044-$5,569/monthly

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 8:00am -5:00pm

THE DEPARTMENT:

The primary functions of the Biological Sciences Department are (1)to provide the highest quality and up- to-date instruction at theundergraduate and graduate levels in a broad range of topics in thebiological sciences; (2) to advance biological knowledge throughresearch and creative scholarly and professional activities; (3)and to serve the university, local, and global communities. TheDepartment serves over 1,200 undergraduate majors and over 90graduate I (Master's) students. As of the 2013/14 academic year,the department faculty is composed of 22 full-time tenure-trackfaculty, 1 joint tenure-track appointment with CEMaST (Center forExcellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching), 5 faculty in theearly retirement program (FERP}, up to 29 part-time faculty perquarter (with a teaching load ranging from 1-15 WTUs per quarter),and up to 60 graduate teaching associates (with a teaching load of4-8 WTUs per quarter). The Department has 3 administrative supportstaff and 6 full-time technical staff members, who collectively andin collaboration with the Department Chair and other faculty,oversee the activities of a few Graduate Assistants (GAs) and up to20 student assistant's (per academic quarter) to carry out theteaching mission of the department. Consistent with the Cal PolyPomona core value of "learn by doing", the curriculum offered bythe Biological Sciences Department is laboratory intensive,providing the students with valuable experiential learningopportunities in order to prepare them for future careers. Thisaspect of our curriculum is essential to delivering a quality andmodern biology education to our students. As part of its teachingmission, the Biological Sciences Department maintains a; largeselection of microorganisms (bacteria, fungi, and viruses) for itslower-division, upper-division, and graduate-level Microbiologyclasses. At the undergraduate level, these classes serve all fourmajors but, in particular, our Biology - Microbiology,Environmental Biology (Cluster 3), as well as Biotechnology majors.At the graduate level, these courses serve all our graduate(Master's) students. This position will be responsible forproviding technical support to faculty and students in the area ofmicrobiology teaching and research. This technician will workclosely with faculty, other staff members, graduate teachingassociates, graduate assistants, and undergraduate I studentassistants to provide support for undergraduate and graduateclasses, as well as for research purposes.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Instructional Laboratory Support

• Independently support laboratory preparation and instructionalsupport for BIO 2060L, BIO 3620L, BIO 3640L, BIO 4360L, BIO 4635L,BIO 4650L, BIO 4670L, BIO 4680L, and BIO 4690L.
• Provide partial support for BIO 1110L, BIO 1150L, BIO 1210L,BIO 1220L, BIO 4660L, and other Biology instructional laboratoriesas assigned.
• Coordinate laboratory setup requirements with faculty andTeaching Associates (TAs), ensuring all instructional supplies,equipment, reagents, media, microbial cultures, tissue culturematerials, specimens, PPE, and support resources are available forassigned laboratory classes and support other courses asneeded.
• Assist instructors and students in preparing teachinglaboratories with instructional materials for microbiology,molecular biology, and cell biology experiments.
• Organize and fulfill daily and weekly preparation requests byproviding microbial cultures, tissue culture materials, media,solutions, reagents, laboratory supplies, specialized biologicalmaterials, and other instructional resources for teaching andresearch laboratories.
• Assist instructors in the development of new or modifiedlaboratory courses and experiments.
• Maintain microbial cultures, tissue culture materials, andother biological resources to ensure their quality, viability,availability, and compliance with instructional and researchlaboratory standards. Laboratory Operations and TechnicalServices
• Evaluate laboratory materials, equipment, and procedures tooptimize instructional quality, laboratory efficiency, andsafety.
• Establish and/or refine Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)for microbiology and cell culture operations based on universitystandards and best practices.
• Provide technical guidance in the preparation ofmicrobiological media, tissue culture materials, laboratorysolutions, reagents, and other instructional materials inaccordance with established protocols and safety requirements.
• Maintain, troubleshoot, clean, calibrate, store, and preparelaboratory equipment and instrumentation used for microbiology,molecular biology, and cell biology instruction.
• Assist instructors with laboratory preparation sheets,laboratory manuals, and instructional support needs for assignedcourses.

Facility Operations & Equipment Stockroom & InventoryOperations

• Maintain the Building 4 stockroom inventory of supplies,equipment, media, reagents, and biological materials required forsupported instructional laboratories.
• Coordinate with other staff technicians in the Cellular andMolecular Biology (CMB) area, Central Biology Stockroom (4-2-557),Building 8 Stockroom, greenhouse, vivarium, and other biology workareas to ensure stockrooms remain fully operational and adequatelysupplied.
• Assist with stockroom coverage during business hours.
• Oversee the organization and operation of the microbiologypreparation room to ensure efficient laboratory support forinstructional activities serving more than 500 students eachsemester.
• Assist with the operations of the Cellular and MolecularBiology (CMB) Stockroom (4-2-774), including the Common ChemicalRoom, Flammable Chemical Room, preparation room, deep-freezefreezers, walk-in refrigerator, incubators, autoclaves, dishwasher,and related laboratory support facilities. Procurement, Vendors& Reporting
• Obtain vendor quotes and order instructional laboratorysupplies, equipment, biological materials