Department Assistant

DePaul University; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 27,000 - 38,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, Dental, Vision benefits

Retirement plan matching 8%

Tuition waivers for employees and/or

Generous paid time off and holidays

Job summary

DePaul University in Chicago seeks a Department Assistant in Writing, Rhetoric, and Discourse to manage the day-to-day departmental operations, assist the chair, and support 18 full-time and 50+ part-time faculty. The role includes budgeting, curricular support, and digital content management.

Require a Bachelor's degree and at least 3 years in an academic office, with strong MS Office skills and excellent communication.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required.
• Three or more years of experience in an academic office setting preferred.
• Advanced knowledge of MS Office and comfort with technology.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, both written and verbal.
• Ability to handle confidential information with attention to detail.

Responsibilities

• Manage daily, weekly, quarterly, and annual routines of the department, including budgets and payroll for contingent faculty.
• Maintain curricular records and coordinate event planning and technology management.
• Serve as primary contact for Admissions and related curriculum matters; oversee Online Teaching Evaluation system.
• Supervise student assistants and manage office operations and communications.
• Create and manage department marketing materials and digital content across the website and social media.
• Support department chair with administrative tasks and minutes.

Skills

MS Office

Communication

Detail oriented

Process improvement

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

MS Office

Job description

paid time off, sick time, retirement plan

The Department Assistant in Writing, Rhetoric, and Discourse (WRD) reports to the chairperson and provides general management/supervision of the day-to-day operations of the departmental office. This position assists the chair, facilitates routine academic business for 18 full -time and 50+ part-time faculty members, executes event planning, and manages technology resources. Hiring/managing student assistants, the execution of routine curricular activities and student services, and managing the department's digital content (website and social media platforms) are also essential responsibilities in this position. The Department Assistant responds to faculty, student, and public inquiries as they arise.

What You'll Do

• Office management and implementation of daily, weekly, quarterly, and annual routines of the department:
  
  • Coordinate operating, discretionary and/or grant budgets including daily transactions, procurement transactions including office supplies and equipment; hiring paperwork, offer letters, and quarterly payroll for contingent faculty.
  • Maintain personnel files for all faculty, manage records associated with tenure-line faculty probationary and promotion and tenure review and faculty and staff job searches; assist the Chair and Associate Director of FYW with quarterly course schedule maintenance for all departmental programs; coordinate event planning and technology management.
• Curricular Support:
  
  • Maintain and update all curricular records via institutional systems including those in Campus Connect (assigning advisors; dropping/adding students); Tableau; and in Google docs related to job description, such as the WRD Student Program Database
  • Serve as the department's primary contact for Admissions offices and other university and college entities related to curriculum.
  • Oversee the department's Online Teaching Evaluation system.
  • Monitor WRDx email during registration and manage X-section enrollments
  • Manage the department's contribution to the University Catalog; perform scheduled content updates as directed by Student Records.
  • Support graduate program (MAWRD, TESOL Certificate) directors' administrative processes: Graduate assistantship applications, Teaching Apprenticeship Program applications, Tuition waivers, Admissions, Advisor Assignments.
• Assist department chair as needed, including but not limited to the following: manage search committee documents, serve as liaison to all university and college administration; record and transcribe minutes.
• Digital Content Management:
  
  • Serve as the department's web manager, maintaining the department's sites in the content management system.
  • Act as the department's social media manager, creating and distributing content via Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc., and the department's WordPress blog-in coordination with the Chair and the Graduate Director meetings and graduate faculty meetings; oversight and execution of Contingent Faculty Elections - executes voting procedures for the department's contingent faculty representative and First-Year Writing committee members as specified in department's Bylaws
• Managerial/Supervisory Responsibilities:
  
  • Hire, train, and supervise student assistants, student time-sheet approval, and tasks delegated to student worker/s including, but not limited to: maintaining spreadsheets for faculty office hours, offices, contact information, photocopying and scanning, sorting and distributing mail for 60-70 faculty
• Maintain office information:
  
  • Brochures, notices, announcements, bulletin boards, etc
  • Receptionist tasks, such as welcoming and directing visitors and inquiries and channeling phone calls to appropriate parties
• Marketing:
  
  • Create and manage the department's print and media resources intended for student recruiting and public viewing (flyers, handouts, flat-screen content, etc.)
  • Coordinate routine marketing and recruitment materials for department programs, classes, and events (flyers, posters, postcards, flat screen slides, etc.)
  • Works collaboratively with faculty members and committee chairs as necessary to create promotional materials (flyers, invitations, postcards etc.)
• Distribute workload, supervise and oversee all department projects, budget management, and hiring/supervision of student workers.
• Consult the department chair regularly on budgetary issues and work with the Financial Services liaison in the Controller's Office.

What You'll Need

• Bachelor's degree required.
• Three or more years of experience working in an academic office setting preferred.
• Advanced knowledge of MS office necessary, as well as a desire to expand skills in in a continually developing environment of communication technology.
• Thorough knowledge of the university's administrative practices and procedures.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, speaking and writing - must be diplomatic.
• Able to handle confidential information and be detail oriented .
• Dedication to continuous process improvement.

The anticipated hiring range for this position is: $23.45/hr

The salary range provided in this posting reflects what we reasonably expect to pay for this position. Actual compensation offered or earned is dependent on experience, education and other factors including departmental budget.

• Working for a stable and well-known University.
• Top choice medical, dental, and vision benefits.
• Retirement plan matching contribution of 8%.
• Tuition waivers for employees and dependents.
• Generous paid time off, sick time, holidays, floating holidays, and more!

Vincentian Mission

Guided by an ethic of Vincentian personalism and professionalism, DePaul compassionately upholds the dignity of all members of its diverse, multi-faith, and inclusive community. We seek to hire collaborative, open-minded, and dedicated professionals who are committed to advancing our university mission to making education accessible to all, with special attention to including underserved and underrepresented communities. Successful candidates thrive in an environment where ideas and perspectives representing a wide variety of cultures, backgrounds and experiences are welcome and supported.

Required Background Check:

Employment at DePaul University is contingent on passing a background check. Only final candidates who are extended an offer of employment will undergo a background check.

DePaul University is an Equal Opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, ethnicity, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, marital status, physical or mental disability, protected veteran status, genetic information or any other legally protected status, in accordance with applicable federal, state and local EEO laws.

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