Assistant to the Chair II (Accounting/Budget/Administrative), Department of English and Literary Arts

Apply now Job no:494043
Work type:Staff Full-Time
Location:Denver, CO
Categories:Accounting / Finance, Student Affairs / Services, Business Operations / Services, Admin / Executive / Office Support

The Department of English and Literary Arts has approximately 20 full-time faculty members, 30-40 full-time graduate students, and approximately 200 majors. The graduate program offers both an MA and a PhD, and the undergraduate major has concentrations in Literary Studies and Creative Writing. The department houses one of the country's oldest and most prestigious literary journals, The Denver Quarterly.

The DU College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences is committed to addressing systemic racism within our institution and participating in the shared responsibility of fostering a community of excellence, innovation, engagement, integrity, and inclusiveness. We see first-hand the educational, artistic, and scholarly benefits of creating and maintaining an accessible and equitable experience for all in our college, priorities that strengthen our academic community of learners, knowledge makers, and creative artists. As such, we strive to comprise a student body and faculty and staff that represent diverse peoples and perspectives, and to offer curriculum and skills that help prepare students for ethical and engaged citizenship in todays global society. Our intentional commitment to advance equity and inclusion remains critical to CAHSSs mission of providing a robust liberal and creative arts education in service to the larger public good.

Position Summary

The Assistant to the Chair position provides general administrative support, under the supervision of the chair, to the Department of English and Literary Arts. Duties include general office management, reception of visitors and answering of telephones, assisting faculty and students with course needs, and managing mail services. Responsibility for managing various departmental processes also includes tenure reviews, event planning, course scheduling and room requests. The position also provides budget and hiring support. Duties include budget management, coordinating the processing of accounts payable/receivable transactions, processing payroll, and managing the hiring process for non-benefited positions. 

The ideal candidate must be able to work independently under general direction, and must be able to provide excellent service to students, faculty, and staff under a variety of circumstances.

Essential Functions

General Administrative Duties:

• Greet and assist visitors to main office, including answering basic advising or informational questions about the department. This requires a physical presence in the Department of English and Literary Arts academic office during university business hours.
• Monitor department email and voicemail accounts.
• Manage the day-to-day operations of the office, including: managing office supplies, monitoring office equipment, managing key distribution and space access, and submitting facility work orders as necessary.
• Perform space allocation changes and analysis when required.
• Assist in planning various departmental events (e.g. seminars, lectures, etc.).
• Perform updates to departmental website and social media accounts.
• Other duties as assigned by the department chair to support department functions and to be a backup for other staff members.

Coordinate Departmental Processes:

• Coordinate the quarterly course scheduling process: work with the chair and faculty to prepare course schedules for each academic quarter, liaise with the Registrars Office and CAHSS Deans Office to ensure that schedules meet requirements, manage changes and updates, and provide room assignment requests, and audit schedules once posted to ensure accuracy.
• Coordinate faculty and staff hiring: prepare job posting materials, assist in monitoring applications in the PioneerJobs hiring system, assist search committees in arranging interviews and candidate travel, and work with the CAHSS Deans Office to complete hires.
• Be attentive to the Staff and Faculty Hiring Guideline requirements to ensure an equitable and inclusive hiring process.
• Coordinate non-benefited hiring: oversee the recruitment, hiring and supervision of student employees and other non-benefited staff positions.
• Coordinate the preparation of tenure and promotion materials: when needed, assist departmental committees in compiling internal and external materials for faculty tenure and promotion cases.

Coordinate Departmental Budgets:

• Budget planning/forecasting for department/program heads.
• Monitor and reconcile budget reports.
• Manage accounts payable/receivable transactions.
• Communicate CAHSS budgetary guidelines to faculty members.
• Book travel accommodations through Concur.
• Coordinate the reconciliation of transactions that involve departments p-cards.
• Process invoices and check requests.
• Handle various grant and endowment functions.
• Approve timesheets through PioneerTime for student employees and other non-benefited staff positions and have the ability to communicate with them remotely when required.
• Perform year-end reconciliation and other year-end tasks based on DU and CAHSS training.
• Act as liaison between Department of English & Literary Arts and CAHSS Budget Officers.

Graduate Program Support: 

• Respond to inquiries about graduate programs, or channel them to chairs/faculty.
• Work closely with department graduate director on scheduling and other issues.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Ability to communicate effectively both verbally and in writing.
• Ability to read and interpret documents such as procedure manuals, reports and other pertinent information.
• Ability to interact with CAHSS faculty, employees and students from diverse racial, ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds.
• Ability to do basic math and accounting.
• Ability to work with spreadsheets and learn finance/budget reports.
• Thorough knowledge of Microsoft Word, Excel and Outlook.
• Ability to be adaptable and flexible.
• Ability to develop and maintain good working relationships.
• Ability to take initiative in performing duties and work reliably without constant direct supervision.
• Solid computer skills.
• Strong organizational skills.
• Strong attention to detail.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelors degree or equivalent combination of experience and education obtained in other work settings such as the military or non-profit organizations.
• Two years of experience in an office support setting.
• Experience and/or training in basic bookkeeping/accounting.
• Experience with accounts payable and receivable.
• Experience with social media, Word, and Excel in a professional context.

Preferred Qualifications

• 3-5 years in an office support setting, with experience in accounting/bookkeeping and graphic design.
• Experience working in a university environment.

Work Schedule
Monday - Friday, 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Application Deadline
For best consideration, please submit your application materials by 4:00 p.m. (MST) on Monday, July 26th, 2021.

Special Instructions
Candidates must apply online through jobs.du.edu to be considered. Only applications submitted online will be accepted.

Salary Grade Number
The salary grade for the position is 6.

Hourly Range
The hourly range for the position is $20.00 - $23.00.

The University of Denver has provided a compensation range that represents its good faith estimate of what the University may pay for the position at the time of posting. The University may ultimately pay more or less than the posted compensation range. The salary offered to the selected candidate will be determined based on factors such as the qualifications of the selected candidate, departmental budget availability, internal salary equity considerations, and available market information, but not based on a candidate’s sex or any other protected status.

Benefits
The University of Denver offers excellent benefits, including medical, dental, retirement, paid time off, tuition benefit and ECO pass. The University of Denver is a private institution that empowers students who want to make a difference. Learn more about the University of Denver .

Please include the following documents with your application:
1. Resume
2. Cover Letter

The University of Denver is committed to enhancing the diversity of its faculty and staff. We are an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment regardless of age, race, color, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, military/ veteran status or any other status protected by law.

All offers of employment are based upon satisfactory completion of a criminal history background check.