Executive Assistant to the Executive Vice President & Provost

Southern Oregon University • Ashland, OR

1d • Onsite

About The Position

The Executive Assistant to the Executive Vice President (EVP) & Provost at Southern Oregon University (SOU) provides comprehensive administrative and operational support to the Executive Vice President (EVP) & Provost and the Associate Provost. This multifaceted role involves managing the daily operations of the Provost’s office, including complex scheduling, travel arrangements, and serving as a professional public relations point of contact for the Office of Academic Affairs. A critical component of the position involves overseeing the university’s curricular change process and serving as the Primary Manager for the academic catalog, which requires collaborating with various departments and committees to ensure accurate record-keeping and publication. Additionally, the Executive Assistant manages faculty-related processes, such as emeritus status and the administration of faculty development grants and awards, from the application stage through financial disbursement and reporting.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s Degree.
• Five years of progressively responsible experience in an administrative support position.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to work collaboratively and effectively in a group environment.
• Ability to work with computer programs.
• Excellent attention to detail.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills, and ability to communicate professionally with university, community, and statewide staff.
• Ability to follow policies and procedures, recommend solutions to problems, and adapt to change.
• Must be able to manage frequent interruptions and changes in priorities.
• Experience with and ability to interact with a diverse population.
• Demonstrated customer service experience requiring a very high level of diplomacy and professionalism to effectively handle a broad range of sensitive interpersonal situations.
• Demonstrated ability to interpret and consistently apply a wide variety of complex policies and procedures where specific guidelines may not always exist.
• Demonstrated ability to proactively assess work operations and anticipate potential problems; ability to develop and implement strategies for preventing/resolving problems.
• Great ability to effectively perform work of a highly sensitive and confidential nature that requires access to information. Must be able to exercise sound judgment and discretion, tact, and diplomacy.
• Takes initiative in independently planning, organizing, and performing work assignments within broadly defined parameters
• Demonstrated ability to work with a high level of productivity and accuracy/attention to detail.
• Excellent organizational and time management skills with the demonstrated ability to set own priorities to coordinate multiple assignments with fluctuating and time-sensitive deadlines.
• Willingness to and work effectively in a heavily bureaucratic environment which requires regular interaction with a number of levels within the organization and multiple outside agencies.
• Working knowledge or ability to quickly learn, university infrastructure, policies, and procedures.
• Demonstrated skills in an institutional/educational environment utilizing a customer-oriented and service-centered attitude.
• Advanced Communication and Public Relations: Mastery of written and verbal communication skills to represent the Office of the Provost and professionally draft, proof, and send all-campus communications.
• Discretion and Confidentiality: Exceptional ability to exercise sound judgment, tact, and diplomacy while handling highly sensitive and confidential information and documents.
• Complex Administrative Support: Proficiency in managing daily office operations, including complex scheduling, travel logistics, meeting coordination, and processing reimbursements.
• Technical Systems Proficiency: Advanced skills in computer applications, databases, social media, and online systems, for example, specialized tools like the Coursedog catalog management system.
• Policy Interpretation and Problem Solving: Demonstrated capacity to interpret and apply complex policies and proactively develop strategies to resolve operational problems within a bureaucratic environment.
• Curricular and Catalog Management: Expertise in overseeing the university curricular change process, acting as the primary manager for the academic catalog, and maintaining historical archives.
• Faculty Grant and Award Administration: Ability to coordinate grants and distinguished awards following collective bargaining agreements, managing the process from application through financial disbursement and reporting.
• Organizational Excellence and Accuracy: Superior time management and attention to detail to prioritize multiple time-sensitive assignments with high productivity and minimal errors.
• Collaboration and Cultural Humility: Proven ability to foster teamwork and maintain effective relationships with a diverse population and individuals from various cultural backgrounds.
• Adaptability and Resilience: Demonstrated flexibility to manage frequent interruptions, shifting priorities, and heavy deadline pressure in a fast-paced office environment.
• Committee and Event Leadership: Skilled in planning and executing events and providing comprehensive administrative support (agendas, minutes, and follow-up) for various university councils and committees.

Nice To Haves

• Experience working in higher education.
• Experience using higher education institution data systems such as Workday and Coursedog.

Responsibilities

• Executive Support and Public Relations Calendar and Office Management: Manage day-to-day office work and maintain complex appointment calendars for the Provost and Associate Provost.
• Diplomatic Communications: Serve as the professional point of contact for the Office of Academic Affairs, handling inquiries and complaints with tact, discretion, and a service-centered attitude.
• Event and Meeting Coordination: Plan and execute events, meetings, and retreats from inception to completion, including logistics for room reservations, catering, and transportation.
• Official Correspondence: Draft, proof, and distribute all-campus communications, official letters, and confidential documents on behalf of the Provost's Office.
• Faculty and Student Services: Oversee the emeritus faculty process, manage international faculty housing reservations, and send honors notifications to qualifying students.
• Committee Support: Provide administrative assistance to the Tuition Advisory Council and other university groups by scheduling, taking minutes, and distributing materials.
• Process Oversight: Manage the end-to-end curricular change process, coordinating schedules and distributing materials to ensure timely updates.
• Liaison Duties: Act as the primary liaison between academic departments, the Faculty Senate, the Board of Trustees, and the Statewide Provosts Council.
• Proposal Monitoring: Collect all curricular change proposals and monitor the approval process through both campus and state levels.
• Technical Guidance: Provide research on curricular history and guide departments and program chairs through the refinement of proposals.
• Curriculum Committee Support: Support the Curriculum Committee by managing agendas, scheduling meetings, and coordinating the review process.
• Archives and Reporting: Produce annual summaries of all curricular changes and maintain the university's permanent curricular archives.
• Primary System Management: Serve as the Primary Manager for the academic catalog using the catalog management system.
• Access Control: Responsible for assigning and managing editing permissions for various contributors within the catalog system.
• Content Implementation: Enter approved changes into the catalog and oversee the final online publication process.
• Process Analysis: Evaluate current catalog change workflows to recommend and implement improvements and technical solutions.
• Vendor Relations: Act as the main point of contact and liaison with the contracted catalog management vendor.
• Grant Administration: Manage the process and disbursement for Carpenter Grants, Professional Development Grants, and various Distinguished Faculty Awards.
• Compliance Monitoring: Ensure all processes adhere to the APSOU Collective Bargaining Agreement and Faculty Senate procedures.
• Financial Analysis: Determine available funding based on revenue, carry-forward balances, and previous grant encumbrances.
• Committee Support: Provide the Faculty Development Committee with applicant eligibility data and spreadsheets for ranking and allocation.
• Disbursement and Logistics: Facilitate grant funding disbursements using university purchasing procedures and order ceremonial plaques for award winners.
• Reporting: Collect individual grant reports and draft annual reports for stakeholders like the Carpenter Foundation and APSOU.
• Organizational Maintenance: Ensure the Provost's Office is organized and maintain permanent Academic Affairs archives and filing systems.
• Procurement: Purchase and maintain office supplies and equipment using established university procurement procedures.
• Records Retention: Apply knowledge of statewide records retention guidelines to maintain and dispose of institutional records properly.
• Fiscal Coordination: Work with Business Services for invoice payments and journal vouchers while monitoring activity in university financial systems.
• Purchasing Card Custodian: Act as the custodian for the departmental purchasing card, ensuring all transactions follow strict regulations and restrictions.
• Mail and Office Flow: Review and distribute incoming mail and assist visitors with university processes for travel and reimbursements.
• Website Maintenance: Oversee the regular maintenance and updating of the Academic Affairs website.
• Content Accuracy: Ensure information is current by adding new updates and removing outdated materials.
• Strategic Alignment: Coordinate with the Provost to determine the priorities and focus of the website’s content.
• Resource Development: Update online resources to ensure they are accessible and useful for the university community.
• Filing Systems: Integrate the website management with broader office filing and information storage systems.
• Search Committee Assistance: Assist with national and regional searches for university positions, including administrative support for search committees.
• Direct Committee Service: Serve as a representative on search committees or other university groups as needed.
• External Relations: Work collaboratively with community organizations and other educational institutions on behalf of the Provost.
• Cross-Departmental Support: Coordinate with other Executive Assistants to provide additional support to university leadership during peak times.
• Adaptive Tasks: Perform other duties as assigned to support the evolving needs of the EVP & Provost.

Benefits

• To view SOU’s very generous benefits and pension programs available to eligible positions, please visit https://inside.sou.edu/assets/hrs/Benefits/Benefit_Flyer/2024_Prospective_Candidate_Benefit_Overview_012024.pdf
• Our benefits package is an important complement to the offered salary and our Total Compensation Calculator, https://inside.sou.edu/hrs/comp-calc.html, demonstrates our value and commitment to our employees.

What This Job Offers

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