Department Assistant, English

Samford-University; Homewood (AL); On-site; USD 35,000 - 48,000; Full time

Job summary

The Department of English at Samford University seeks an organized Department Assistant to support the Chair and faculty with office management and administrative operations.

Responsibilities include maintaining records, processing payments, coordinating student employment, and assisting with course scheduling, events, and accreditation reports.

Qualifications

• High school diploma or equivalent is required.
• Excellent time management and prioritization skills.
• Ability to communicate clearly in writing and speech.
• Experience with department administrative tasks and reporting.

Responsibilities

• Provide general administrative support to the Department Chair and faculty.
• Serve as administrative systems administrator for Argos, Banner, Spaces.
• Prepare and track Letters of Agreement and maintain documents.
• Assist with budgeting, reimbursements, deposits, and vendor communications.
• Coordinate student employment, course scheduling, and event planning.
• Assist with accreditation reports and department communications.

Skills

Time management

Attention to detail

Written communication

Verbal communication

Self-starter

Team collaboration

Education

High school diploma or equivalent

Tools

Microsoft Word

Microsoft Excel

SPACES

Banner

Argos

Job description

The Department Assistant for the Department of English reports to the Department Chair and functions as the Chair’s executive auxiliary for general office management and oversight of administrative operations. This person provides administrative support for the Chair, faculty, and students in the Department of English and its affiliated programs. General duties involve working with the University’s Banner finance and student systems, creating reports, maintaining office records, ordering office and classroom materials, and event planning.

Clerical (ongoing)

• Provide general administrative and clerical support including mailing, scanning, faxing, copying, and emailing for the department Chair and faculty members.
• Serve as departmental Argos, Banner, and Spaces administrator.
• Create first draft of all Letters of Agreement for Fall and Spring semester, track and secure signatures, and maintain executed documents.
• Maintain departmental filing system for documents including student and faculty information.
• Provide payment, travel, hotel, transportation, and parking passes for departmental visiting guests.
• Maintain files of course syllabi and other course documentation.
• Assist with periodic reporting related to accreditation and assessment with accreditation organizations and site visits.
• Coordinate directly with Tech Services to utilize device tracking/management and updates to department technology.
• Perform duties as Building Coordinator for relevant space including approving room requests in Spaces, reporting facility issues, and assisting in emergency planning as indicated, etc.

Course Guardian Duties (ongoing)

• Work with the department chair to develop and maintain the course scheduling and faculty loads.
• Assign meeting times and instructors to each course as directed by the department chair.
• Assign classroom locations to each course through the academic portion of Spaces.
• Provide Permits to approved students for course override restrictions when registering.
• Attend training and meetings required by the Registrar’s Office.

Financial (ongoing)

• Purchasing: Enter requisitions for purchases in Banner, attain invoices from vendors, secure delivery of purchases, and track overall status for purchases from requisition to delivery.
• Communicate with new vendors and submit new vendor requests to Purchasing.
• Ensure proper process for returns and refunds, as necessary.
• Reimbursements: Aid faculty, staff, and students with expense reports and attain signatures before submitting to the accounting office.
• Process Supplemental Pay Forms for Faculty and Staff.
• Deposits: Prepare deposit slips and turn in with checks/cash collected from payments of costume rentals, refunds, and ticket sales.
• Work with department chair and HCAS Business and Operations Manager to maintain and track department budget as requested.

Student Employment (ongoing)

• Submit Student Employment Opportunity Postings to HR for each position.
• Submit Student Job Assignment Forms to HR for each potential student employee.
• Guide student employees on access and management of their Time Clock Plus System.
• Serve as backup Time Clock Plus supervisor on all department student employees.
• Complete and submit student employee status change forms when necessary.

Adjunct Hire (ongoing)

• Assist new adjuncts with onboarding related to Samford ID, Log-in Access, Parking Decal, Canvas, etc.
• Request, compile, attain signatures, and hire documents to the HCAS Business and Operations Manager.
  • Current CV/Resume
  • Signed Faculty Employment Form
  • Samford Faculty Application
  • Christian Mission Statement
  • Pending LOA

Special Events Planning (ongoing)

• Assist in room/space reservations and set-up.
• Purchase, and deliver refreshments for receptions, luncheons, etc.
• Coordinate with student employees on presentation and cleanup.
• Serve as on-site coordinator as required.
• Create promotional materials for special events, course promotion, etc.

Student Services (ongoing)

• Maintain student files.
• Assign advisors.
• Provide Travel Letters (aka. Absence Excuse Requests) for students requiring class absence excuses due to official off campus travel and other departmental events when attendance is required.
• Assist students with on-campus needs related to departmental functions as requested.

Course Evaluations (twice per year)

• Set up evaluation surveys in Qualtrics for each individual course (CRN number) within the department.
• Schedule email delivery of each individual survey in Qualtrics.
• Track responses during evaluation period and schedule reminder emails for each course, as needed.
• Create final evaluation reports for each course in PDF format and forward them to the instructor of each course, the department chair, and Dean’s Office.
• Maintain evaluation reports in department files.

• High school diploma or equivalent.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel.
• Ability to work in a highly collaborative team environment.
• Requires excellent time management and prioritization skills.
• Requires exceptional attention to detail.
• Requires the ability to communicate articulately through both writing and verbal communication.
• Requires being a self-starter, ability to take direction, and ability to work independently.
• Ability to work continuously throughout the day, remaining in a sitting position for extended periods.
• Ability to remain in a stationary position for extended periods.
• Ability to view computer screen up to 7 hours per day.
• Ability to occasionally lift up to 15 pounds as needed.
• Ability to report to work by 8:00am daily.

• Previous related administrative or office work experience.
• Experience with SPACES, Banner, and/or Argos.
• Experience with newsletters and department communications pieces.