California State University, East Bay Looking for College of Science Laboratory Support Technician Full Time

Job No: 535484

Work Type: Staff

Location: East Bay

Categories: Unit 9 – CSUEU – Technical Support Services, Administrative, Probationary, Full Time

Salary and Benefits

PLEASE NOTE: The starting salary placement depends on qualifications and experience and is anticipated to be in the range of $4,583.00 per month to $5,000.00 per month.

Cal State East Bay offers a broad range of benefits that includes medical, dental, vision, retirement (CalPERS), 401k, 457, 403(b), dependent and health care reimbursement accounts, life insurance, vacation and sick, 14 paid holidays, one personal holiday and tuition fee waiver.

For more information on the benefits program, please visit our benefits website. The CSU Total Compensation Calculator demonstrates the significance of our benefits package.

Classification

Instructional Support Technician III

About Cal State East Bay

Cal State East Bay’s beautiful main campus is located in the Hayward hills with panoramic views of the San Francisco Bay shoreline. Situated above the city of Hayward, the campus offers an ideal setting for teaching and learning and yet easy access to the many cities along the bay. The University has a satellite campus in Concord, a professional development center in Oakland and a significant presence online. Founded in 1957, Cal State East Bay is one of 23 universities of the California State University system (CSU). Cal State East Bay is recognized as a regionally engaged and globally oriented university with a strong commitment to academic innovation, student success, engaged and service learning, diversity, and sustainability.

About the Position

Fulfilling the College of Science instructional (both stateside and PHAP) and research missions at both the Hayward campus and Concord site requires the maintenance of shared facilities/equipment and a culture of safety. This instructional support position assists the Associate Dean in this work.  In particular, the individual will serve as the Animal Care Facility Coordinator, ensuring it operates in compliance with Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) standards, Environmental Health and Safety (EH&S) Standards, the Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare (OLAW) Regulations, USDA Animal Welfare Regulations, PHS Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals, as well as state, local and institutional policies.  This work includes responding appropriately to maintenance issues that may arise as well as coordinating ongoing preventative maintenance, assisting with oversight of and maintenance of training records, maintenance of equipment, and inventorying and coordinating the purchase and delivery of supplies.  This position is also responsible for the administration of state vehicles.

Additionally, the Instructional Support Technician will support the instruction of laboratory sections. This requires collaboration with other instructional support technicians associated with specific departments and includes tasks such as: preparing chemical and biochemical reagents for the lab sections, maintaining bacterial stocks, setting up equipment, consulting with instructors, assisting with the maintenance of large instruments, ensuring that hazardous waste is managed properly, and routinely monitoring the inventory of chemicals and supplies.

Responsibilities

Day-to-Day Operations of Animal Care Facility:

• Manage day-to-day operations of the Animal Care Facility, which includes overseeing such activities as: daily health checks, cage changing and washing, autoclaving of food and bedding, stocking PPE supplies, and cleaning of rooms and floors.
• Communicate and coordinate with users (faculty, staff, and students) for coverage during absences, weekends, and holidays.
• Coordinate vendor visits, including compressed gas deliveries, for lab use.
• Coordinate maintenance of Animal Care Facility with campus Facilities Management as well as outside companies contracted by Facilities Management
• Escort EH&S personnel into the facility for a monthly check on fire extinguishers.
• Respond appropriately to equipment or facilities problems.
• Maintain accurate inventory of supplies and coordinate purchase and delivery with staff.
• Attend and contribute to User’s Meetings, bi-annual facility inspections, and IACUC meetings.
• Assist in correcting deficiencies noted during inspections as appropriate.
• Assist with new user training and maintenance of training records.
• Contribute to development of emergency plans and procedures for the Animal Care Facility.
• Be one of several people available for emergency weekend and evening support for animals in the Animal Care Facility.  

College Liaison to Environmental Health and Safety:

• Coordinate annual updating of the Chemical Hygiene Plan.
• Assist faculty and staff in completing required training, chemical inventories, hazard assessments, and inspections in College of Science facilities and addressing issues of non-compliance.
• Collaborate with Environmental Health & Safety to address audit findings.
• Serve on the College of Science Safety Committee and BEST (Building Emergency Support Team).  This includes participating in on-going training offered by the University to develop skills in emergency support and supporting emergency response personnel in case of an emergency. 

Administration of State Vehicles:

• Verify vehicle mileage and condition of vehicle before and after use.
• Maintain a reservation and usage logs.
• Verify drivers are qualified and maintains record of drivers’ licenses and defensive driving certifications. 

Prepare and Maintain Materials and Instruments Necessary to Execute Instructional Laboratory Course Sections:

• Using the appropriate lab manual and/or in consultation with the appropriate instructor, develop and routinely update lists of all reagents, supplies and equipment required for each laboratory class.
• Perform calculations, weigh or measure chemicals for distribution or solution preparation, label reagents, test when necessary and store all class samples under conditions in which the desired properties are retained for successful use in the lab section.
• Handle, store, and maintain microbial cultures; evaluate the viability, purity and traits of microbial stocks, including antibiotic sensitivities of bacterial cultures; and properly prepare stocks for -80°C storage and their resuscitation.
• Set out the non-chemical materials (including slides, diagrams, pictures, posters, articles) and equipment for each laboratory section.  Make sure all equipment is in good working order.   
• After the lab classes are finished with an experiment, remove all materials and either store, clean, or dispose of properly.
• Consult with laboratory instructors regularly regarding needs for upcoming experiments.  Assist with whatever is needed to ensure the timely and successful implementation of those experiments.
• Be able to operate all instruments used in supported courses.
• Practice instrument skills and check the instruments periodically to make sure they are in good working order.
• Identify problems or malfunctions of instruments, and either address these or arrange for a repair visit from a vendor technician.
• Host vendor technicians for routine maintenance visits.
• File or keep filed instrument manuals and maintenance history in designated stockroom cabinets.
• When the instrument will be used for class, test and calibrate in advance, coordinate with the instructor; on the day of the lab class, warm up the instrument and make sure whatever is necessary for successful use by laboratory sections is done.

Perform Additional Tasks which Help the Stockrooms Fulfill their Mission:

• Routinely clean the stockroom, laboratories, equipment, supplies, and glassware in preparation for upcoming laboratory experiments.
• Fix or arrange to have fixed broken or damaged small equipment items.
• Work with other stockroom staff to maintain adequate supplies of shared reagents commonly used for many classes.
• Fill in for other instructional support technicians on an as-needed basis.
• Participate in inventory and locker/drawer equipping.   
• Assist with moving equipment.
• Submit Student Accident Injury Reports, if needed.

Participate in the Regular Collection and Disposal of Hazardous Laboratory Waste:

• Be aware of applicable regulations for waste disposal.
• Regularly monitor waste levels in classroom satellite sites and remove them to outside storage sites when appropriate.  Provide fresh properly labeled waste containers as needed.
• Keep required records up-to-date.
• Inform others as needed to ensure proper segregation, storage, and handling of hazardous waste.
• Help maintain the stockroom’s inventory of chemicals and supplies to ensure that adequate amounts are on-hand for supplying upcoming laboratory experiments.
• Anticipate needs in advance and reorder chemicals and materials in a timely fashion. 

Minimum Qualifications

Experience:

• Equivalent to four (4) years of experience providing instructional support services for a related unit or discipline, or in producing materials or supplies or repairing equipment in a discipline related to specialty area to which assigned.

OR

• Equivalent to two (2) years of college with 16 semester units in courses involving extensive use of materials, supplies, or equipment and in a discipline related to the area to which assigned may be substituted for one year of the required experience.

OR

• Equivalent to four (4) years of college with 16 semester units in courses involving extensive use of materials, supplies, or equipment and in a discipline related to the specialty area to which assigned may be substituted for two years of the required experience.

Knowledges and Abilities:

• Knowledge of the principles and methods related to performing support services.
• Knowledge of the principles, information, methods and techniques related to discipline to which assigned.
• Knowledge of the materials and supplies related to the curriculum, their characteristics, and uses.
• Ability to plan, organize and schedule work.
• Ability to operate and repair technical and scientific equipment.
• Ability to coordinate support service to meet a comprehensive variety of needs.
• Ability to develop off-campus resources related to the discipline for obtaining materials or equipment.

Required Qualifications

• Be generally familiar with the functioning of instructional laboratory classes and understand the types of procedures they involve.
• Understand and be familiar with the properties, handling, and safe use of laboratory chemicals and biochemicals.
• Understand and be familiar with media preparation and bacterial strain maintenance.
• Understand and be familiar with the safe handling and proper disposal of hazardous chemical and biochemical waste, and understand the use of MSDS information.
• Understand and be familiar with the use, maintenance, and calibration of scientific analytical equipment.
• Understand and be familiar with the use of laboratory supplies and glassware.
• Understand and be familiar with the safe use of common tools.
• Possess good computer skills (email, word processing, internet searches, etc.).

Physical Requirements

• Must be able to lift 30 pounds.
• Ability to work with small animals, preferably rodents.

Preferred Skills and Knowledge

•  A Bachelor’s degree in Biology, Chemistry, Biochemistry, or a closely related field.

Condition(s) of Employment

Satisfactory completion of a background check (including LiveScan, as appropriate), that may include, but is not limited to: criminal records check, verification of academic credentials, licenses, certificates, credit history, professional references and/or verification of work history is required for employment.  Cal State East Bay will issue a conditional offer of employment to the selected candidate, which may be rescinded if the background check reveals disqualifying information, and/or it is discovered that the candidate knowingly withheld or falsified information. Unsatisfactory results may also affect the continued employment of current Cal State East Bay employees who were conditionally offered the position.

All background checks are conducted through the university’s third party vendor, Accurate. LiveScan is conducted through the University Police Department.

EEO Statement

As an Equal Opportunity Employer, Cal State East Bay does not discriminate on the basis of any protected categories: age, ancestry, citizenship, color, disability, gender, immigration status, marital status, national origin, race, religion, sexual orientation, or veteran’s status. The University is committed to the principles of diversity in employment and to creating a stimulating learning environment for its diverse student body.

Other Information

All California State University campuses, including Cal State East Bay, are smoke and tobacco-free.  For more information, please visit our website here.

In compliance with state and federal crime awareness and campus security legislation, including The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Crime Statistics Act, the Cal State East Bay Annual Campus Security Report is available here. 

Sponsorship

Cal State East Bay is not a sponsoring agency for Staff or Management positions and we are not an E-Verify employer.

Mandated Reporter

The person holding this position is considered a ‘mandated reporter’ under the California Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act and is required to comply with the requirements set forth in CSU Executive Order 1083 Revised July 21, 2017 as a condition of employment.