Senior Program Support Assistant

Administrative Assistant

This position provides overall administrative support for the faculty, staff, and students of the English Department including budget/financial management, hiring support, promotion and tenure processes, graduate scheduling, First-Year Writing staffing, and all administrative tasks and events associated with the various department programs such as the graduate program and English.

Job Duties/Responsibilities:

• Direct prospective applicants to apply using Graduate School online application
• Direct prospective applicants to appropriate departmental representatives
• Track application status using Salesforce
• Coordinate application review
• Coordinate changes to applications
• Correspond with applicants in regard to applicants' admission, funding, and other related questions
• Provide faculty and current students with contact lists for prospective student outreach
• Communicate application decisions to Graduate School
• Liaise with the Graduate School to make sure that the Graduate School has communicated as necessary with prospective students
• Arrange details of venue and food for Prospective Student Day each year
• Provide information to students about deadlines, orientations, funding information, program specific information
• Provide information as needed on specific degree requirements and perform degree audits
• Facilitate department graduate student files
• Maintain workflow procedures for department processes
• Assist in communicating information on funding opportunities
• Facilitate the processing of scholarships and awards
• Arrange details of venue and catering for Graduate Orientation each year
• Set up calendar of deadlines for each semester
• Administer pre-registration process each semester
• Administer language exams each semester
• Schedule PhD dissertation proposal defenses, dissertation defenses, general and qualifying examinations, mock interviews, and help with MFA thesis defenses
• Contact all first-year PhD students about the date of the general exam
• Schedule a room and arrange for laptop loaners
• Organize general and comprehensive exams and distribute to students
• Arrange for timeframe the exams will be taken
• Schedule oral defenses
• Update the Graduate Catalog annually
• Send out course description requests to faculty and post to CourseSearch
• Create course flyers upon request and post to CourseSearch and digital boards
• Create and distribute all event flyers for guest speakers, MFA readings, Writing Awards, and other events
• Coordinate financial aid process each semester
• Communicate decisions to the FOC
• Collect grades for Independent Studies and Master's Papers
• File Master's Papers in student files
• Prepare graduation certifications for graduate director's approval each semester
• Update class pre-rosters for graduate director and faculty; distribute rosters to faculty
• Monitor monthly budget reports for the department and the various program accounts
• Advise/consult department chair and program coordinators on balances and expenditures
• Submit proper documentation with approvals, supporting information, and accounting information
• Act as department Telecommunications Account Manager
• Act as department PCard Administrator and provide/keep track of the department PCard
• Process honorariums for guest speakers and individuals receiving special requests from the department
• Understand basic account information, and know what type of transaction to use for different expenses
• Monitor and follow up on personal and departmental Ushop usage and supply supporting documentation promptly
• Work with various faculty members, assisting them with accessing their funds and/or grants
• Request and monitor department and program encumbrances
• Report budget issues to FOC in a timely manner for correction
• Prepare departmental deposits and deliver to FOC
• Submit student hiring requests
• Book travel, accommodations, and parking for guest speakers
• Send out packet to new TAs with assigned books, 401 packet, and memo for new TA orientation
• Assign new TAs to offices
• Work with Program Coordinator on Composition teaching schedule
• Facilitate ENGL 401, 501, 502, and 503 add/drop for students at the beginning of each semester
• Organize catering and venue for annual week-long Composition Orientation and assist Comp Director during that time
• Send out a memo to book representatives inviting them to the annual Book Fair
• Coordinate annual Book Fair; arrange catering, tables, and parking
• Coordinate bi-weekly Composition meetings and arrange for end-of-semester luncheons
• Perform other duties as assigned
• Provide administrative support, organization of files, and data collection for the Tenure Track Faculty Promotion and Tenure process
• Assemble and format tenure cases
• Contact external reviewers for scholarship and monitor the external review process
• Contact current and former students for teaching review
• Contact internal and external reviewers for service review
• Organize all appendices – including course evaluation, annual faculty reviews, and supplementary materials
• Provide administrative support, organization of files, and data collection for the Lecturer Faculty Promotion process
• Assemble and format promotion narratives
• Coordinate with the promotion committees
• Provide Administrative Support for Tenure Track Faculty Annual and Post-Tenure Reviews
• Provide Administrative Support for Lecturer Faculty Annual Reviews
• Assist the Chair with coordinating the faculty review processes
• Update, organize, and maintain faculty files
• Assist office staff with various administrative responsibilities associated with Departmental Operations
• Maintain department website using Drupal
• Maintain archives of all teaching evaluations using DIG
• Providing general back up support for reception, student inquires (graduate and undergraduate), program support, and IT needs
• Assist with department programs and events as needed, including but not limited to: open houses, orientations, workshops, undergraduate research conference
• Assist with scheduling and logistics for speakers and external reviews
• Work on projects assigned by the Chair as needed

Minimum Qualifications:

• High school graduation and five years of related experience involving progressive responsible duties requiring discretion and independent judgment or Associate's Degree and three years of related experience or a combination of higher education and related experience equal to five years.
• Computer skills such as word processing, spreadsheets, internet, e-mail, data base management
• Organizational and analytical skills
• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with faculty, staff, students, and the general public.
• Skills in desk top publishing.

Applicant instructions:

• Applicants should be prepared to upload the following documents when applying online within the Resume/Cover Letter section of your application:
• Resume/CV
• Cover Letter
• Contact Information for 3 Professional References

Applications that are missing any of the required items may not move forward for consideration. Additional uploaded documents not requested in the position announcement will not be reviewed.

Location: Durham

Salary Grade: Non-Exempt Staff 12