The Journalism Education Association has announced a job posting to hire an assistant director to start August 2020.

The headquarters staff, which works at offices at Kansas State University, JEA’s host institution since 1987, will look a little different next fall after the retirement of long-time employee Connie Fulkerson, CJE.

JEA Executive Director Kelly Glasscock, CJE, said he is grateful for Connie’s years of service and looks at replacing the void created by her departure as a unique opportunity.

“While this is quite the challenge – to replace a JEA icon – I had to look at this as an opportunity instead,” Glasscock said.

Planning for the transition started more than a year ahead of when the new assistant director will step into the position. Glasscock met with staff as well as association leaders for multiple strategic planning sessions to design the position.

“We took a deep look at the current needs of the association and how we could craft a new job that would fill those needs,” Glasscock said. “We’re not trying to replace Connie – that’s impossible. We’re trying to rethink what we can do in our headquarters office and move in a new direction.”

The assistant director will complete multiple convention planning and programming activities, as well as coordinate the organization’s communication strategy. Administratively, the assistant director will help guide the organization’s strategic plan alongside the director.

JEA President Sarah Nichols, MJE, said the new position will expand the organizational capacity in new areas and help refocus on members’ needs while offsetting the workload of other staff members and volunteers.

“With the growing demands of the organization, it’s exciting to see us have the capacity to expand and improve some of the association’s communications efforts. The assistant director position has a lot of flexibility for the right person to impact JEA programs and services from headquarters while developing important relationships with our members and partners,” Nichols said.

To learn more about the position, and to apply, visit the hiring portal at Kansas State University at the following link.

https://careers.k-state.edu/cw/en-us/job/508397/assistant-director-jea

While the position is hired through the university system, the full attention of the assistant director will be with JEA. No other teaching obligations or university responsibilities are associated with the position.

Review of all applications will commence Dec. 15, 2019 and will continue until the position is filled.