Academic Coordinator

جامعة السوربون أبوظبي; Abu Dhabi; On-site; AED 120,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading university seeks an Academic Coordinator to support the academic departments by managing timetables, coordinating activities for Visiting Professors, and assisting students with administrative support. This role demands strong communication and organizational skills, knowledge of academic management systems, and the ability to work independently under pressure.

Qualifications

• Minimum 2 years of Academic Support experience in the Higher Education sector.
• Knowledge of French and English are mandatory, Arabic is preferred.
• Experience using academic management systems is beneficial.

Responsibilities

• Manage academic program timetables and classroom schedules.
• Assist and organize activities for Visiting Professors.
• Coordinate student inquiries and administrative issues efficiently.

Skills

Written and verbal communication skills

Planning and organizing skills

Interpersonal skills

Flexibility

Ability to work under tight timeframes without supervision

Education

Bachelor’s degree

Tools

Microsoft Office

Blackboard

Banner

Oracle

Job description

JOB PURPOSE / ROLE

To support faculty within the specified Academic departments at Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi (SUAD) by providing support to students, Visiting Professors and general administrative support for academic departments thereby ensuring the smooth running of the department and programs thereof. This position will support the undergraduate or postgraduate programs taught within the specified Academic departments.

KEY ACTIVITIES

Learning Support

• Manage the Academic Program timetables in coordination with the facility management company ensuring that appropriate staff are allocated to lectures and workshops.
• Coordinate classroom schedules ensuring that suitable facilities are available for the session.
• Prepare all teaching equipment, materials and information as requested by Academic employee to enable lectures/workshops to be conducted as required,
• Follow up to ensure that the faculty has uploaded student materials onto the student system (Blackboard).
• Coordinate additional educational activities as requested by Academic employee, such as external trips, guest speakers etc., ensuring arrangements are timely and meet the needs thereof.

Visiting Professors

• Assist in the organization of VP missions regarding dates of teaching missions, when applicable.
• Coordinate and organize activities related to academic missions to secure a smooth running including the coordination of travel itineraries arrangement (accommodation, transport, visa where applicable). Guide the VP prior to their arrival and during their stay by sharing and collecting the list of needed documentation /data in order to keep an updated academic database.
• Managing the Visiting Professors’ timetable; providing required teaching materials and student profiles and liaising with relevant departments to ensure access to required services (e.g. Finance, IT, General Services etc.)
• Prepare and verify the mission tables, hours, classes and time sheets submitted by the Part-time teachers and relay the same to the Human Resources department for processing within the payroll
• Responsible for the welcome and exit of VPs through daily communication with VPs for day-to-day tasks and troubleshooting.
• Follow-up and update of VPs and local teaching staff for grades of continuous assessment (“contrôle continu”) and examination subjects which must be treated with a high level of confidentiality.
• Prepare mission tables and maintain updated lists of VPs and all courses taught by the academic departments and centralize all information about the courses being taught at the relevant departments for audit and quarterly financial evaluation purposes.

Student Support

• Maintain dialogue with Registrar to anticipate and prepare for the Academic Program.
• In case of drop-out, provide guidance to students in the online clearance process on E-space.
• Conduct student inductions to ensure they are informed on all required information in relation to the Academic Program
• Manage student absences and medical certificates, ensuring accurate recording in the system and follow-up with the student on any required support. Update the HOD in case of delayed absences.
• Registration and follow-up of the student’s course choices (“inscriptions pédagogiques”), in close communication with Registrar.
• Coordinate and exchange information with the other Academic Department, particularly Language, FLE & Sport departments.
• Be the « port of entry » for all student inquiries; treat in autonomy all administrative issues; strictly academic issues (such as course and major changes, grade problems, etc. Issue, if any should then be escalated to the relevant HOD).
• Acts as an ambassador to promote the program for potential candidates advising them on the programs when required.
• Assist and organize the potential candidates’ interviews when applicable.
• Assist and arrange thesis defence jury, internship defence jury when applicable.
• Collaborate with the respective departments to ensure all processes related to student complaints and appeals are completed in line with the policy.

Examination Support and invigilation

• Coordinate with the Registrar department to ensure that entry tests assessments and interviews for their relevant Academic Programs are coordinated in a timely manner. This includes but is not limited to assessment/exam timetables; marking; invigilation, compilation of the grades and arrangements for students with special needs and Jury’s’/Committees.
• Submission of all data to the HOD and to the parent universities in due time for the assessment.
• Follow up and ensure that exams subjects and grades have been transmitted by the responsible faculty to the Registrar Department (Exam office) on a timely manner.
• Work with the Registrar department to ensure assessments and exams are coordinated in a timely manner, including but not limited to assessment/exam timetables; marking; invigilation and arrangements for students with special needs and control cheating.

Administrative Support

• Prepare the required memos, reports, and other related internal and external correspondence in relevant language based on requirement (French, Arabic, English) in order to support the respective academic programs and faculty staff with administrative work for the needs of the department.
• Work/Update information in Banner with regards to class sections, schedules, dates and timings, as well as Professors information. Communicate with respective Banner specialists to make sure all information in Banner are updated to be able to edit and manage student files.
• Create and follow up on the Purchase Requests (PRs) for the academic departments.
• The organization of academic events and teaching activities related to the Academic Department.
• Provide logistical support for room bookings, bus bookings, drafting of temporary occupancy agreements for organisations wanting to use the sports facilities, purchases for the cultural and teaching activities of their department.
• Work with Professors and HOD to gather and centralise the necessary information to maintain an up-to-date Course Catalogue (in printed and e-format) and ensure it is always available before the semester starts.
• Prepare and submit Ministry of Education reports and surveys accurately.
• To support the HoD developing the annual academic plans by coordinating with all the relevant departments during the planning and budgeting period.
• Support the HOD with monitoring the departmental budget and report periodically by providing up to date data, in collaboration with the finance team, on budget surplus/deficiency to ensure proper budget utilisation.
• To help ensure that all relevant feedback on the programme is collected at the end of the academic year (students, faculty, employers, etc.); to collect the relevant date from the strategic planning office that is required to ensure that the programme KPI are met; and finally, to support the HoD to prepare the annual Self-Evaluation Report for each programme in his/her department.
• Support with feedback collection during end of course (at the end of each academic semester) by reminding student and faculty to complete their feedback and evaluations. Follow up to cross check that the reports are generated; that the Course Profile (a CAA requirement) is updated and completed, and that all relevant documentation is uploaded to the Blackboard in a timely manner.
• Support the HoD with providing relevant data when preparing the necessary papers and presentations for the Academic Management Committee and Academic Council if applicable, and other committees.

Diary Management

• Liaise with relevant departments to ensure effective time management between schedules.
• To organize the Advisory Board meetings 2 x year. The AC will liaise with the Board members to arrange the date and time of meetings, circulate the agenda to the board members and work with the HoD to prepare the presentations and papers that will be discussed. In addition, the AC will take the minutes of meeting at the Advisory Board meeting.

Faculty Meeting Support

• Support with the organization of departmental review meetings.

Quality Assurance & Accreditation

• Follow department policies, processes, standard operating procedures and instructions so that work is carried out in a controlled and consistent manner
• Policies and Procedures
• Follow department policies, processes, standard operating procedures and instructions so that work is carried out in a controlled and consistent manner

Related Assignments

• Perform additional tasks or assignments as directed by the Line Manager, within the scope of the responsibilities outlined in the preceding Job Description.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree

Minimum Experience:

• 2 years Academic Support experience in the Higher Education sector

Job-Specific Skills:

• Knowledge of Microsoft Office
• Written and verbal communication skills
• Planning and organizing skills
• Interpersonal skills
• Flexibility
• Ability to work under tight timeframes without supervision
• Knowledge of Blackboard, Banner or Oracle is preferred
• Languages: French and English are mandatory. Arabic is preferred