Department Assistant (On-site)

DePaul University • Chicago, IL

8d • Onsite

About The Position

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.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree required.
• Advanced knowledge of MS office necessary.
• 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.
• Detail oriented.
• Dedication to continuous process improvement.

Nice To Haves

• Three or more years of experience working in an academic office setting preferred.
• Desire to expand skills in a continually developing environment of communication technology.

Responsibilities

• Office management and implementation of daily, weekly, quarterly, and annual routines of the department, including coordinating operating, discretionary and/or grant budgets, daily transactions, procurement, hiring paperwork, offer letters, and quarterly payroll for contingent faculty.
• Maintaining personnel files for all faculty, managing records associated with tenure-line faculty probationary and promotion and tenure review and faculty and staff job searches.
• Assisting the Chair and Associate Director of FYW with quarterly course schedule maintenance for all departmental programs.
• Event planning and technology management.
• Maintaining and updating all curricular records via institutional systems including Campus Connect, Tableau, and Google docs related to job descriptions.
• Serving as the department's primary contact for Admissions offices and other university and college entities related to curriculum.
• Overseeing the department's Online Teaching Evaluation system.
• Monitoring WRDx email during registration and managing X-section enrollments.
• Managing the department's contribution to the University Catalog and performing scheduled content updates.
• Supporting graduate program directors' administrative processes, including graduate assistantship applications, Teaching Apprenticeship Program applications, tuition waivers, admissions, and advisor assignments.
• Assisting the department chair with managing search committee documents, serving as liaison to university and college administration, and recording and transcribing minutes.
• Serving as the department's web manager, maintaining the department's sites in the content management system.
• Acting as the department's social media manager, creating and distributing content via Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and the department's WordPress blog.
• Oversight and execution of Contingent Faculty Elections, including voting procedures for the department's contingent faculty representative and First-Year Writing committee members.
• Hiring, training, and supervising student assistants, approving timesheets, and overseeing delegated tasks such as maintaining spreadsheets for faculty office hours, offices, contact information, photocopying, scanning, and mail distribution.
• Maintaining office information such as brochures, notices, announcements, and bulletin boards.
• Performing receptionist tasks, including welcoming and directing visitors and inquiries and channeling phone calls.
• Creating and managing the department's print and media resources for student recruiting and public viewing.
• Designing routine marketing and recruitment materials for department programs, classes, and events.
• Collaborating with faculty members and committee chairs to create promotional materials.
• Distribution of workload, supervision and oversight of all department projects, budget management, and hiring/supervision of student workers.
• Consulting the department chair regularly on budgetary issues and working with the Financial Services liaison.

Benefits

• 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!

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level