Program Administrator - Shields Center for Exoplanet Climate and Interdisciplinary Education

University of California, Irvine•Irvine, CA

21h•$31 - $33

About The Position

The Department of Physics & Astronomy at the University of California, Irvine is seeking a part-time, 50%, career position for a Program Administrator (PA), under the general supervision of UCI Professor Aomawa Shields, who coordinates all administrative and management aspects of Shields research and education group, including the Rising Stargirls (RS) program – outreach and marketing for upcoming workshops, workshop preparation, advertising RS-related activities on the RS website and through its mailing list social media advertising, organizing participant data assessment and analysis, coordinating the training of students to facilitate workshops, leading education team meetings leading up to workshops and webinars, and arranging facilitators for the workshops, educator webinars, and outside RS speaking engagements. The PA develops and nurtures relationships with educators in Southern California as well as nationally and internationally, towards the goal of involving as many girls of color as possible in the RS community as workshop participants and future scientists. The PA would also carry out logistical and administrative tasks related to Professor Shields’ larger team, including submitting purchase orders and reimbursement paperwork, grant award preparation, management, and reporting, meeting scheduling and responding to email queries. The PA may also arrange travel and logistics related to conference and other travel. Rising Stargirls (http://www.risingstargirls.org/), an educational program founded by UCI Professor Aomawa Shields in 2014, is dedicated to building personal connections between middle-school URM girls, and the universe of which they are an integral part. By integrating creative strategies such as free writing, visual art, and theater exercises, our curriculum addresses each girl as a whole by providing an avenue for individual self-expression and personal exploration that is interwoven with scientific engagement and discovery. Rising Stargirls has carried out in-person workshops on the East and West coasts of the United States, and virtual workshops for 30-40 girls annually from around the country and the world, alongside webinars for educators from the U.S., Europe, and South America. Over the next five years, we will continue to expand the depth and reach of our program to involve girls from minority groups around the world in our virtual astronomy workshops, while simultaneously increasing our face-to-face presence through the facilitation of local and destination in-person workshops in select communities around the country and world.

Requirements

Consistently exercises a high degree of initiative, confidentiality, independence, good judgment, and flexibility in performing a wide variety of administrative duties.
Ability to adjust to changing priorities while working well under pressure.
Strong organizational skills with proven ability to meet deadlines.
Excellent verbal and written communication skills, independent critical thinking, problem solving, and creativity.
Excellent interpersonal skills to establish and maintain effective working relationships with faculty, staff, and students. Skill to maintain courteous manner while providing service to faculty, staff, students, and the general public.
Ability to focus on tasks, paying attention to details and seeing projects through to completion.
Fast and accurate typing skills.
Familiarity with Internet applications and multiple browsers.
Skill to proofread material for accuracy in spelling, grammar and punctuation.
Knowledge of technology with the ability to create graphic materials using software programs such as Adobe Photoshop.
Ability to create, publish, and maintain simple web pages.
Experience with social media platforms.
Ability to coordinate and arrange travel and logistics.
Ability to prepare technical manuscripts.
Excellent recordkeeping skills to maintain orderly filing systems.
Experience in processing travel expense reimbursements.
High school diploma or equivalent experience

Nice To Haves

Working knowledge of Microsoft Office, and HTML for website editing.
Working knowledge of Kuali Financial System (KFS) or similar financial systems.
Familiarity with University systems, policies and procedures.
A high degree of willingness to initiate conversations with new contacts over the phone and in person for meetings in the surrounding areas.
A minimum of 1 year of experience in administrative office work in higher education

Responsibilities

coordinates all administrative and management aspects of Shields research and education group
outreach and marketing for upcoming workshops
workshop preparation
advertising RS-related activities on the RS website and through its mailing list social media advertising
organizing participant data assessment and analysis
coordinating the training of students to facilitate workshops
leading education team meetings leading up to workshops and webinars
arranging facilitators for the workshops, educator webinars, and outside RS speaking engagements
develops and nurtures relationships with educators in Southern California as well as nationally and internationally, towards the goal of involving as many girls of color as possible in the RS community as workshop participants and future scientists
submitting purchase orders and reimbursement paperwork
grant award preparation, management, and reporting
meeting scheduling and responding to email queries
arrange travel and logistics related to conference and other travel