Department Assistant 2 (Job 9570)
Case Western Reserve University

Job Info

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POSITION OBJECTIVE

Working under general direction, the Department Assistant 2 will provide administrative support to the chair, faculty, and staff of the department of Biology as well as oversee all administrative functions within the department. Responsibilities include assisting faculty and staff with financial management as well as maintaining the workflow to support the teaching and research needs of the department. Assignments may be long term and requires the individual to rely on own resources in task accomplishment. The department assistant will coordinate major special events for the department well as provide customer service, financial and reporting support.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

1. Act as primary contact for department, answer and direct telephone calls and email correspondence, provide guidance and suggestions for inquiries or issues for all visitors. Initiate and follow up on routine correspondence between the department, university, as well as external constituents. Assist the business manager with reconciling monthly expense statements, track and record charges for trend analysis. Schedule faculty meetings, take minutes, post agendas, and reminders. Oversee inventory and ordering for all office and equipment supplies. Provide departmental orientation for new faculty members; including email, voicemail, telephone set up, key requests and ordering procedures, etc. Assist other support staff to cover work overflow and provide backup as needed. (15%)
2. Serve as assistant to department chair; manage schedule and calendar, arrange meetings, appointments, special projects and other engagements. Prepare correspondence, reports and confidential documents. (10%)
3. Assist the chair with faculty promotion and tenure files; collect materials, maintain and organize files, submit required materials. Strict discretion and adherence to confidentiality must be maintained, as this position will be privy to the solicited letters from external, research and teaching evaluator, the faculty evaluation and faculty vote. (10%)
4. Provide academic support to chair for faculty activity reports: maintain database of syllabi, organize and analyze course evaluations, maintain schedule of meetings, obtain appropriate documents and signatures, adhere to College of Arts and Sciences guidelines and deadlines. (10%)
5. Provide support for departmental faculty searches as needed; make hotel and travel arrangements, set-up seminar and interview schedule for candidates, maintain files on applicants for committee review, track and compile information for affirmative action requirements, prepare and submit necessary forms ensuring that all guidelines have been followed by the faculty search committee. (10%)
6. Process all orders for research and teaching supplies and equipment as requested by faculty/lab personnel through Peoplesoft eProcurement. Track teaching costs by course and enrollment, maintain statistics for forecasting purposes. Act as departmental resource regarding purchasing procedures and requirements. (9%)
7. Organize and coordinate weekly seminar series: Prepare itinerary for visiting speakers, make necessary travel arrangements, prepare and post flyers for each event. Track all financial expenditures associated with the seminar series. (9%)
8. Review and process travel reimbursements, payment requests, and petty cash vouchers for approval by the business manager. Correct and resolve any issues in order for reimbursements to paid on a timely manner. (9%)
9. Manage the coordination, preparation, and execution of major and minor event/program planning, seminars and faculty meetings. Oversee preparation of event/program details, including venue selection, food selection, logistical planning, promotion, requisitions and payments. (9%)
   

NONESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

1. Sort and distribute departmental mail, route the chair's mail as appropriate. Arrange for and send out FedEx packages. Accept incoming packages and notify recipients. (2%)
2. Oversee and coordinate preparation of department community coffee hour. (2%)
3. Maintain calendars for seminar/conference room and computer lab. Maintain reservations for departmental equipment. Submit requests for maintenance, work orders, arrange AV services for teaching and other needs. Process online requests for telephone services; activate faceplates, set up new service, repair Cisco IP phones, etc. Request maintenance and service calls on copiers, fax machine, etc. (5%)
4. Perform other duties as assigned. (1%)

CONTACTS

Department: Daily contact with chair, faculty, research personnel, business manager and dean's office to exchange information.

University: Regular contact with university faculty and administrators in various departments as needed.

External: Frequent contact with visitors to the department, outside callers and email communication, travel agencies and caterers to exchange information.

Students: Daily contact with students to exchange information.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITY

May direct the work of student employee.

QUALIFICATIONS

Experience: 3 to 5 years of related experience required. Experience in Higher Education is preferred.

Education: High school education required. Bachelor's degree preferred.

REQUIRED SKILLS

1. Progressively increasing levels of responsibility requiring maturity, good judgment, and discretion.
2. Ability to work independently with minimal supervision.
3. Demonstrated analytical and organizational skills.
4. Ability to track and resolve problems.
5. Demonstrate the ability to work and have creative approaches to problem solving areas as in handling managerial activities and performing with a high degree of precision and confidentiality.
6. Ability to maintain a harmonious and productive working relationship with co-workers, faculty, and staff in other administrative units of the university; as well as the ability to maintain a consistently supportive service-oriented attitude toward current and potential graduate students.
7. Ability to work proactively and cooperatively with staff and with others in the University.
8. Ability to organize and maintain in multiple formats large quantities of data.
9. Ability to work with precision and attention to detail and to meet deadlines for task completion.
10. Ability to assimilate and communicate information clearly and accurately.
11. Demonstrated ability to learn new software and/or systems. Proficiency in Microsoft Office software. Prefer knowledge of website tools (such as HTML, CSS, XML, Drupal). Knowledge of the university Student Information System and PeopleSoft Financials is preferred.
12. Ability to effectively interact with colleagues, supervisors and customers face to face.
13. Ability to meet consistent attendance.

WORKING CONDITIONS

General office environment. The employee will perform repetitive motion using computer mouse and keyboard to type. Due to the cyclic nature of the admission, registration, and commencement processes, there are certain calendar periods when the workload is heavier than other times.

This job has expired.