Administrative Assistant

• Job Type: Support Staff - Union
• Bargaining Unit: Local 2110
• Regular/Temporary: Regular
• End Date if Temporary:
• Hours Per Week: 35
• Salary Range:

Position Summary

Reporting to the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs and Director of the Center for the Core Curriculum, the incumbent will provide comprehensive administrative support for the Center for the Core Curriculum. The position requires the ability to manage a wide variety of tasks and work closely with the other Core, Academic Planning and Administration staff members, faculty and administrators.

Responsibilities

• Manages day-to-day operations for a complex and demanding office.  Provides administrative support for up to 200 faculty members teaching in the Core.  Communicates Core policies and procedures in person and via email.  Daily interaction with students, faculty, and administrators, while performing multiple duties, and meeting deadlines.  The incumbent also sends out routine weekly Core communications to faculty and guest speakers; works closely with the Office of the Dean, Core staff and others to schedule meetings in the Conference Room and Core Library; liaises with Accounts Payable, and other administrative units as directed.  Prepare and assemble faculty course material and liaise with Columbia Housing to ensure access for instructors teaching in undergraduate residences.
• Coordinates and sets up for weekly meetings, and arranges all aspects of regularly scheduled faculty luncheons and special occasions; provides administrative support for the entire array of Core programming events including scheduling regular and electronic classrooms, and distribution of information and publicity materials as directed.  The incumbent may also oversee desk copy distribution for instructors. Handle all logistics for weekly internal/external faculty speakers:  manages correspondence with faculty outside of Columbia and makes travel and logistical arrangements; and provides technical support.
• Coordinate final exam for Literature Humanities and Frontiers of Science: assist exam committee with proofreading and editing; scheduling and room assignments, exam printing and distribution and liaise with Office of Disability Services and Athletics.
• Handles the majority of the front office student traffic at the beginning of each semester; provides students and instructors with information on registration policies and procedures and distributes Core book loans to students.
• Manages interview and selection process for preceptorships and postdoctoral lecturerships for Core courses: processing applications, coordinating calendars with relevant committees, scheduling interviews, class visits, generating and mailing related correspondence to applicants.  The incumbent also creates and maintains all applicant files and related databases for recruitment.  Drafts preceptor, lecturer, and adjunct appointment letters for Core Faculty Chairs.
• Responsible for assisting with the processing of reimbursements for individual class outings, maintain spreadsheets (related to reimbursements), process speaker honoraria and travel reimbursements, resolve issues with vendors/accounts payable, place orders for office supplies
• Maintains and updates Core faculty email and contact lists for all Core courses (African Civilization, Art Humanities, Contemporary Civilization, Frontiers of Science, Latin American Civilization, Literature Humanities, and Music Humanities) and departmental communications, including 9 main listservs and numerous email list subsets.  Prepares and distributes large mailings for all faculty.
• Working closely with Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Core chairs, responsible for Core websites: Maintain content and course materials to provide accurate information for course instructors (upload required documents, remove materials no longer relevant for courses) and perform monthly maintenance quality assurance checks on content links;.  Oversees office maintenance, monitoring inventory, repair of office equipment, preparing facilities service request and following up as needed.
• Other related duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications

• High School diploma and/or its equivalent required.
• A minimum of three years of relevant experience, or a combination of education and experience required, preferably in a university or other complex organization. 
• Excellent communication (verbal and written), organization, interpersonal and administrative skills required. 
• Discretion and attention to detail are essential. 
• Multi-tasking, flexibility and a demonstrated ability to work well with a broad constituency required.  

**Applications submitted without a resume and cover letter will not be considered**

Preferred Qualifications

• Proficiency with word processing including mail merge and e-mail merges and presentation software preferred.

Equal Opportunity Employer / Disability / Veteran

Columbia University is committed to the hiring of qualified local residents.