Administrative Associate

University of Kansas; Lawrence (KS); On-site; USD 40,000 - 56,000; Full time

Job summary

The William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Kansas is seeking an administrative associate to support the dean’s office, campus operations, and a collaborative team. The role emphasizes efficiency, customer service, and initiative, with in-person work on the Lawrence campus.

Responsibilities include coordinating meetings, travel, HR processing, events, inventory management, drafting letters, and assisting with scheduling and front desk duties,

Qualifications

• High school diploma or GED equivalency and two years of office experience or two years of post-secondary education.
• Two years of customer service experience, as evidenced in application materials.
• One year experience utilizing MS Office and general computer skills, as evidenced in application materials.

Responsibilities

• Provides support for the academic concentration chairs including arranging meetings, preparing materials, and reserving conference rooms.
• Assists chairs and personnel with travel accommodations, expenses, and reimbursements.
• Assists with HR processing to ensure position descriptions are current and compliant.
• Coordinates and supports school events and activities.
• Maintains inventory across multiple buildings to ensure adequate stock and uninterrupted operations.
• Drafts and edits letters, reports, and other documents for the Dean’s Office.
• Works with KU Procurement for school expenses and office supplies.
• Manages student travel arrangements and expenses; serves as primary contact.
• Provides search committee support and travel arrangements for candidate visits.
• Schedules conference rooms, classrooms, and guest parking on campus.
• Acts as primary contact for KU Facilities maintenance and office/classroom organization in the Dole Center.
• Assists with front desk and Dean’s Office duties.

Skills

Customer service

Decision making

Initiative

Teamwork

Education

Post-secondary education (2 years)

High school diploma or GED

Tools

Adobe products

FITC

Concur

Maximo

25Live

Zoom

MS Teams

Parking Portal

Enroll and Pay

Job description

The William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications seeks an administrative associate to join our dynamic, flourishing, and congenial workplace. We seek an associate who is a fast learner, provides excellent customer service, excels in decision making, and takes the initiative to help where needed. This person works closely with and supports the dean’s executive associate, and the hospitality and communications coordinators to support aspects of running a well-organized operation. The ideal candidate is efficient, detail-oriented, friendly, conducts themself in a courteous manner, presents a positive and professional image, and enjoys being part of a team environment. This position requires in-person presence on the Lawrence, KS Campus.
KU offers great benefits to employees with up to 176 hours of paid vacation per year, 96 hours of sick leave earned per year, nine paid holidays plus one discretionary day, a retirement program, medical & dental insurance, life and disability insurance, other benefit plan options, and State of Kansas discounts offered by various vendors. KU also offers employees educational and professional development opportunities.
Tuition assistance offers up to 12 credit hours per year for employees and Employee Dependent Tuition Assistance Scholarship (EDTAS) award opportunities! Details available at: https://humanresources.ku.edu/tuition-assistance
KU’s excellence is a result of the rich tapestry of experiences, perspectives, and backgrounds of our faculty, staff, students, and colleagues from across our nation and the globe. At KU, we invest in continuous learning and growth by creating a climate where people engage in respectful dialogue and debate and support each other’s success. We foster a culture of care where each person is seen, heard, and valued. When people feel a true sense of belonging, we believe they are better able to reach their full potential and achieve remarkable things. The successful candidate must be eligible to work in the U.S. by the effective date of the appointment.

Job Description

75% - Administrative and Operations Support

• Provides support for the academic concentration chairs to include arranging meetings. preparing materials, and reserving conference rooms.
• Assists academic concentration chairs and personnel with travel accommodations, expenses, and reimbursements.
• Assists with Human Resources processing to ensure position descriptions are kept timely, accurate, and compliant with applicable policies.
• Assists in the coordination and provides support for school and academic events and activities.
• Monitor, maintain, and replenish assigned inventory items across multiple JMC buildings on the Lawrence campus to ensure adequate stock levels, accurate inventory records, and uninterrupted operational support.
• Drafts and edits letters, reports, and other documents for support in the Dean’s Office.
• Works with KU Procurement for school expenses, concentration purchases, and ordering office supplies.
• Manages student travel arrangements and expenses and serves as their primary contact.
• Provides search committee support and travel arrangements for candidate visits, including scheduling and itinerary events.
• Manages requests for conference rooms, classroom reservations, and guest parking on KU campus.
• Serves as the primary contact for the KU Facilities maintenance requests and organization of our faculty offices and classrooms in the Dole Center building.
• Assists with front desk and Dean’s Office duties. Performs other duties related to the mission of the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications.
• Serves as secondary scheduling officer, assisting the primary scheduling officer to make edits to course offerings and schedule in Enroll and Pay.

20% - Development and Communications Support

• Produces donor letters and other recognition and distributes in a timely manner.
• Manages and coordinates the collection and distribution of scholarship student thank you letters.
• Coordinates with the dean and KU Endowment to advance donor relations.
• Coordinates guest relations for visitors to classes and other events.
• Assists the communications coordinator with School publications, communications, and updates on the school’s website.

5% - Other Duties as Assigned

Position Requirements

• Regularly travel between multiple buildings and work locations on the Lawrence campus to inspect, deliver, and support departmental operations, with or without reasonable accommodation.

Required Qualifications

• High school diploma or GED equivalency AND two years of office experience or two years of post-secondary education.
• Two years of customer service experience, as evidenced in application materials.
• One year experience utilizing MS Office and general computer skills, as evidenced in application materials.

Preferred Qualifications

• Flexibility, strong interpersonal skills, ability to work as part of a team, as well as independently as evidenced by application materials.
• Experience performing administrative support functions and processes that required maintaining organized and accurate documentation and communications, as evidenced by application materials.
• Strong problem-solving skills evidenced by prior work experience.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills as evidenced by application materials.
• Experience working with sensitive information with discretion to maintain confidentiality and security, as evidenced application materials.
• Experience that required the ability to meet deadlines and adapt to changing priorities, as evidenced in application materials.
• Experience supporting an executive-level position or in higher education, as evidenced by application materials.
• Thorough knowledge of the structure, policies and procedures of KU, as evidenced by application materials.
• Experience with event planning, as evidenced by application materials.
• Knowledge of Adobe products for creating and editing documents, as evidenced by application materials.
• Knowledge of software programs used at KU: FITC, Concur, Maximo, 25Live, Zoom, MS Teams, KU Parking Portal, and Enroll and Pay, as evidenced by application materials.
• Experience with basic accounting, as evidenced by application materials.

Additional Candidate Instructions

In addition to the online application, the following documents are required to be considered for this position:

• Cover letter describing how you meet the required and preferred qualifications.
• Resume
• List of three (3) professional references

Only complete applications will be considered.

Application review begins Monday, November 2, 2026 . and will continue until a qualified pool of applicants are identified.

• Primary Campus: University of Kansas Lawrence Campus
• Assignment: On-Site
• Reg/Temp: Regular
• Employee Class: U-Unclassified Professional Staff