Administrative Specialist, Residence Life & Housing

Job Details

University of Delaware

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

The University of Delaware is an Equal Opportunity Employer which encourages applications from Minority Group Members, Women, Individuals with Disabilities and Veterans. The University's Notice of Non-Discrimination can be found at http://www.udel.edu/aboutus/legalnotices.html

Job No: 503225
Work Type: Staff
Location: Newark, DE
Categories: Administrative Support, Full Time

Grade: 29E

Context of Job:

Work under limited supervision of the Director of Residential Life Communities, support major residence hall programs and staff activities. Perform a wide range of support services and customer service activities related to housing for a large campus system comprised of over 45 residence halls housing 7,200 undergraduate students with over $68 million in annual transactions. Serve as primary administrative support and process coordinator for resident assistant (RA) and residence hall coordinator (RHC) recruitment, selection, and training processes; support resident hall programming and housing operations; manage digital communications including newsletters and Residence Life webpages as well as provide administrative support to the Director and Associate Director of Residential Communities. Residence Life & Housing maintains an operation 7 days per week, 24 hours per day. As such, the incumbent may need to work non-traditional and weekend hours during key periods of the year to assist in major staff selection and training activities and residence hall opening. The position has exposure to highly sensitive student information and must maintain a high standard of confidentiality.

Major Responsibilities

Customer Service

• Serve as primary reception point for the residence hall staff office suite. Assist students and other visitors to navigate questions or concerns.
• Effectively respond to student, parent, and University community phone calls and emails coming through the main number and RLH inbox.
• Serve as a second-level responder when front line staff is absent or occupied with other calls.
• Develop appropriate level of knowledge and StarRez platform skills related to traditional inquiries that come to Residence Life & Housing.
• Effectively and accurately route callers to appropriate personnel for problems and concerns that cannot be immediately resolved.
• Make determination of whether resident and parent issues are best resolved at the hall or central office level.
• Maintain a degree of advanced knowledge to ensure accurate and timely responses to inquiries received from the phones, residence life inbox and walk-ins.
• Secure and appropriately manage sensitive and confidential student and personnel information.

Administrative Support

• Serve as primary administrative support for the Director, Associate Director and four Assistant Directors of Residential Communities. Assist with schedule management and special projects assigned by the Director that fall beyond the scope of their assigned administrative support. Delegate assignments to student staff and assist in training when needed. Aid and key administrative roles in event planning on behalf of the department.
• Perform a broad range of complex administrative duties, including those of a highly confidential nature, on a regular basis and exercise initiative and judgment to make independent decisions.
• Manage scheduling functions and coordinate group and committee meetings. Respond effectively to phone, e-mail, and in-person inquiries for all functions of the Residence Life & Housing unit.
• Ensure compliance with university financial, facilities and risk management policies and procedures.
• Administer day-to-day needs of the Residence Life & Housing Office Suite, including routine maintenance of technical equipment, office supply ordering, and inventory management.
• Manage residence hall resource room supply inventory and order supplies as needed.
• Provide coverage for other administrative specialists; engage in cross training with department administrative staff to cover other duties when necessary.

Marketing and Communication

• Prepare departmental newsletters including planning and creating content, managing MailChimp content and coordinating with Student Life Communications staff.
• Maintain residential communities pages on department website including editing webpages, managing digital content, and regular content audits. Coordinate with Student Life Marketing and Communications team for website management.

Residential Communities Support

• Coordinate logistics for full-time staff recruitment and selection processes including national recruitment conferences, candidate and recruitment team travel, manage and secure confidential search documents and coordination of on-campus interview days.
• Administratively support the student staff selection process which may include managing candidate applications in Talentlink, coordinating logistics related to the interview process and communication to candidates. Support associate director through incident report processing and tracking
• Coordinate logistics for student staff training which may include scheduling classroom spaces, coordinate rotations, and liaison with dining, etc.
• Track and process reimbursements for in-hall student-initiated programming. Maintain financial records for accounts associated with residence hall programming.
• Assist with the coordination of full-time residence hall staff on-campus living arrangements.
• Coordinate Residence Hall Coordinator moves and apartment preparedness. Assist several new employees annually with their logistical transition to a new campus and play an active role in new employee orientation to our office systems.
• Research office products and machines and make recommendations for purchase to address office needs. Direct and oversee student office workers in areas of office responsibility.
• Provide secondary administrative support for other Assistant/Associate Directors/Coordinators; engage in cross training with department administrative staff to cover other duties when necessary.
• Perform job-related duties as assigned.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in business administration or other job-related field and three years job-related experience supporting an executive, or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Effective organizational skills and attention to detail, with ability to operate independently and to use sound judgement, initiative, and discretion in all interactions with constituents.
• Excellent interpersonal, oral, and written communication skills.
• Experience in creating reports and communications of a confidential or sensitive nature.
• Proficiency in the Windows environment, Microsoft Office (Access, Excel, PowerPoint, Word, Outlook), electronic communication and internet research.
• Ability to use keen listening and problem-solving skills, maintain sensitivity to constituents’ circumstances and quickly determine proper action.
• Demonstrated ability to work in a fast-paced environment as needed and to respond effectively to emotionally charged students and families
• Ability to communicate effectively and interact well with people of all ages and diverse backgrounds.
• Working knowledge of FERPA, the Clery Act, and Title IX.
• Knowledge of University policies and procedures preferred.