Administrative Assistant II

Westfield State University; Westfield (MA); On-site; USD 2,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

Join a forward-thinking university as an Administrative Assistant II, where you can make a meaningful impact in the Student Accounts department. This role offers the opportunity to provide essential administrative support, manage student accounts, and deliver outstanding customer service. You will be responsible for processing payments, handling communications, and ensuring accurate billing while collaborating with a dedicated team. With a commitment to diversity and inclusion, this position allows you to thrive in a vibrant community that values education and personal growth. If you are organized, detail-oriented, and passionate about supporting students, this is the perfect opportunity for you.

Benefits

Health Insurance

Retirement Plan

Tuition Waivers & Discounts

Paid Time Off

Qualifications

• 3 years of full-time office experience required.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Excel for data management.
• Ability to provide excellent customer service.

Responsibilities

• Provide administrative support to the Department of Student Accounts.
• Manage student accounts and process payments efficiently.
• Assist with follow-ups on late payments and account reconciliations.

Skills

Customer Service

Data Entry

Microsoft Excel

Office Management

Communication Skills

Education

High School Diploma

Tools

Microsoft Word

Banner Finance

Job description

Westfield State UniversityJob Posting: Administrative Assistant II

In 1839, Westfield State University was founded on the ideals of Horace Mann who sought to improve society through education. We were the first public education institution without barrier to race, gender or economic class. The spirit of innovative thinking and social responsibility is forged in a curriculum of liberal arts and professional studies contributing to the development of knowledge, skills, and character essential for students to become responsible leaders and engaged citizens.

Westfield State is a highly residential campus with approximately 55% of our 3,100 full-time undergraduate students living on campus. The campus is ideally situated on the edge of the Berkshire Mountains in western Massachusetts just 30 minutes from the thriving cultural centers of Springfield, Northampton, and Amherst with a selection of museums, theater, collegiate and minor league sports, hiking trails, and restaurants. The University is within 1.5 hours of Boston and Albany and within 3 hours of New York City and the Green Mountain range of Vermont.

Thank You for Your Interest in Becoming a Westfield State Community Member

You are welcome here. You can advance your career and make a difference here. We invite you to bring your whole self and talents to Westfield State University. The University seeks applicants whose record of teaching, student advising, research, and administration positions them to contribute to the everyday practice of our institutional values.

Our Values

Westfield State commits to values that strengthen a common bond among all members of our community and promotes a rich campus environment.

• Embrace Diversity-We treat all members of our community with dignity and respect.
• Maintain Excellence and Integrity -We maintain excellence and integrity in all that we do.
• Collaborate with Each Other -We make decisions in a transparent and collaborative manner.
• Provide Accessible Education-We commit to providing an accessible, affordable public higher education for all.
• Build a Strong Community-We are inclusive and ensure equity, supporting the personal development of all community members, and embracing multiple perspectives.
• Engage the Outside Community-We support civic engagement in local, regional, and global initiatives.

Job Description:

Campus Title: Administrative Assistant II
State Job Title: Administrative Assistant II
Department: Student Accounts
Job Code: H17X05
FLSA Status: Non-Exempt
Funding: 7115-0100
Bargaining Unit: AFSCME
Job Type: Full-time, Permanent
Timeframe: 52 Weeks
Shift: Monday-Friday 8:30am-4:30-pm
Regular Days Off: Saturday and Sunday
Supervision Received: The Administrative Assistant II receives general supervision from The Director of Student Accounts
Supervision Exercised: Administrative Assistant II supervises student personnel
Salary: $2,266.94 Bi-weekly

General Statement of Duties:

Administrative Assistant II provides administrative support to the Department of Student Accounts. The individual in this position is responsible for processing payments, managing student accounts, and providing customer service. Key tasks include handling payments, processing bills, and holds, as well as reviewing financial aid and communicating with students regarding account statuses. They also manage Student Financial Responsibility Forms and oversee daily bank deposits and cashiering sessions.

This role involves updating office communications, assisting with mail merges, and ensuring accurate billing. Proficiency in Excel is required for managing spreadsheets. The employee will assist with follow-ups on late payments, ensure accurate student balances, and handle BankMobile reports related to refunds.

Additionally, they provide excellent customer service, manage the Student Account Calendar, and assist with account reconciliations in the absence of accountants. The position also involves participating in the collection of outstanding balances and tracking collection accounts.

Duties and Responsibilities:
Duties include but not limited to:
Essential:

General Statement of Duties:

Administrative Assistant II provides administrative support to the Department of Student Accounts. The individual in this position is responsible for processing payments, managing student accounts, and providing customer service. Key tasks include handling payments, processing bills, and holds, as well as reviewing financial aid and communicating with students regarding account statuses. They also manage Student Financial Responsibility Forms and oversee daily bank deposits and cashiering sessions.

This role involves updating office communications, assisting with mail merges, and ensuring accurate billing. Proficiency in Excel is required for managing spreadsheets. The employee will assist with follow-ups on late payments, ensure accurate student balances, and handle BankMobile reports related to refunds.

Additionally, they provide excellent customer service, manage the Student Account Calendar, and assist with account reconciliations in the absence of accountants. The position also involves participating in the collection of outstanding balances and tracking collection accounts.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Receives and processes payments and bills, including optional and waivable fees, places holds, and reviews anticipated financial aid; performs data entry, produces correspondence and places calls to students regarding account status.
• Performs various office tasks such as producing, distributing, receiving, logging and filing correspondence, and maintains office files.
• Prepares and balances daily bank deposits and cashiering sessions.
• Oversees, tracks, and updates Student Financial Responsibility Forms. Corresponds with students to ensure completion of the forms and applies holds to student accounts when necessary.
• Manages the announcements for the office including announcements on myWestfield, updates office voicemail messages, and away messages.
• Assists with mail merges and bulk emails to students and champions, including but not limited to account balance notifications and office newsletters. Works closely with marketing and SAIL offices to increase awareness on various functions of the Student Accounts office.
• Proficient in Microsoft Excel, including spreadsheet creation and manipulation, ability to manage and update shared spreadsheets. Utilize Excel functions such as pivot tables, VLOOKUP, and conditional formatting to analyze and visualize data. Identify and resolve spreadsheet-related issues, ensuring data integrity and accuracy.
• Facilitates follow up with students and authorized users regarding late payment notices. Tracks billing statements and ensures bills are processed for each student, including bills for any new activity.
• Manages BankMobile reports, including but not limited to, the undeliverable report, demographic report, expiring check report, and reversal/inactive reports. Communicates with students to facilitate timely refunds in accordance with Federal regulations. Processes entries on student accounts for reissuance of refunds.
• Reviews the daily application of payments report and makes adjustments as necessary to ensure student balances are being reported properly.
• Provides excellent customer service to students and parents regarding account balances, adjustments, refunds, and WSU policies and procedures.
• Assists with managing the Student Account Calendar for the Day and CGCE divisions. Ensures that all tasks and responsibilities are met in a timely manner. Follow up with departments as necessary to facilitate achieving departmental deadlines.
• In the absence of the accountants, performs daily reconciliation of accounts receivable with Banner Finance. This includes consolidation of all cashier activity for check, credit card, web and trust fund payments, refunds and the feed into Finance. Processes entries to general ledger to zero out cash clearing account.
• Actively participates in the collection of outstanding balances due on student accounts, including monthly contact with borrowers, making decisions of assignments to collection agency. Utilizes Banner, Microsoft Word and Excel to provide a mini collection agency service that is integrated with other University data. Maintains a comprehensive spreadsheet to track status of all collection accounts, ensuring accurate record-keeping and reporting.
• Responsible for budget transfers, entering requisitions, processing vendor payments, and contracts.
• Assist with reporting, data entry, and other administrative tasks as needed.

Requirements:

Required Qualifications

• High School Diploma Required.
• Three years of full-time office experience or any of the substitutions listed in the state job specifications.
• Values working with people that represent different backgrounds.
• Ability to establish and maintain computer and hard copy filing systems.
• Ability to establish and maintain harmonious working relationships with others.
• Ability to follow oral and written instructions.
• Ability to maintain accurate records.
• Ability to proof written material for grammar, punctuation, spelling and syntax.
• Ability to train, schedule, supervise and evaluate part-time student staff.
• Ability to type 40 words per minute accurately.

Additional Information:

Salaries for current Westfield State University employees and individuals currently working for the state of Massachusetts must be calculated individually in accordance with collective bargaining agreements as well as state policies. State job specifications may be found on theDepartment of Higher Education's webpage .

Employee Benefits:

Benefits are an important component of an employee's total compensation package.

• Health Insurance: Westfield State offers a variety of HMO, POS, and PPO-type health insurance plans for eligible employees. Coverage is effective on the 1st of the month following the date of hire. Exceptions to employees hired on the 1st of the month, coverage is effective immediately.
• Retirement: the MA State Employee Retirement System provides eligible employees with a retirement pension following a 10-year vesting period. In lieu of the retirement pension, eligible employees may select the Optional Retirement Plan with a maximum 5% employer matching contribution.
• Tuition Waivers & Discounts: eligible employees, including spouses and dependent children, receive reduced tuition at MA state colleges, community colleges, and universities.
• Paid Time Off: employees receive 12 paid holidays and generous vacation, personal, and sick leave benefits.

Westfield State University is committed to the full inclusion of individuals with disabilities and will ensure the availability of reasonable accommodations. If a reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process, please contact Human Resources at(413) 572-8809or visit us in the Horace Mann Building, 1st floor.

Employment is contingent upon the successful completion and review of a background check. A criminal recordwill not automatically disqualify an applicant from consideration.

Application Instructions:

An online application is required. A resume and cover letter may be attached but this is not required.

Deadline: Review of applications will begin May 17, 2025.The job posting will be open a minimum of ten days and, if needed, will remain open until finalist have been selected.

NOTE: If you need assistance completing your application please contact our online Help Desk . The link to the help desk can be found at the top of the page via Contact Us.