POSITION IDENTIFICATION
TITLE Academic Administrative Assistant III
CLASSIFICATION NUMBER 3250
GRADE 13
CLASSIFICATION Nonexempt
IMMEDIATE SUPERVISOR Academic Department Head
MAJOR ADMINISTRATOR College Dean
GENERAL FUNCTION
The Academic Administrative Assistant III is the primary or lead departmental administrative support position in an academic teaching department with primary responsibility for a wide variety of complex processes, which generally includes both very active purchasing of specialized equipment and supplies and a large volume of complex financial recordkeeping and reporting responsibilities. These higher level responsibilities are completed independently with limited supervision and are a result of departmental activities (the nature of the work, activities, and events associated with the discipline, multiple active grants, internal departmental accounting requirements, etc.) and are well-established, ongoing, and unlikely to change due to changes in personnel at the department head or administrative support level. The Academic Administrative Assistant III assigns and/or monitors the work of a second full-time administrative support person, student workers, or Graduate Assistants.
MINIMUM ACCEPTABLE QUALIFICATIONS
Education/Experience: A high school diploma or the equivalent and four years of administrative support or secretarial experience or an equivalent combination of education and experience is required. Experience in maintaining, monitoring, and reconciling financial records and accounts is preferred.
Skills: Keyboarding skills are required. A working knowledge of word processing and spreadsheet applications is required. A working knowledge of or the ability to learn and use database applications, the web content management system, the administrative business system or enterprise resource planning system, and other systems or applications that may be used within the University or department is required. The ability to operate and troubleshoot electronic office equipment, computers, and peripherals, maintain moderately complex filing systems and records, and make mathematical calculations is required. Effective verbal and written communication skills are required. The ability to train, assign work, and review the work of full- and part-time employees and student workers is required. The ability to maintain departmental financial records and accounts and prepare financial reports is required.
Effort: Administrative support positions are primarily sedentary. Administrative support positions require extensive keyboarding.
ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
1. Serves as administrative assistant to the Department Head of an academic teaching department by providing or overseeing reception services, scheduling appointments, meetings, and travel, maintaining the Department Head’s calendar, preparing and proofreading correspondence, reports, and other documents prepared by the Department Head, organizing and maintaining paper and electronic filing systems, monitoring due dates for recurring academic calendar events for the Department Head, initiating recurring administrative processes related to the academic calendar, coordinating projects, and assisting in the completion of reports and questionnaires by researching and gathering required information and preparing reports.
2. Serves as the communication hub of the department by organizing, storing, retrieving, and integrating information for dissemination to administration, faculty, staff, and/or students, communicating information from the Department Head to others, collecting and organizing information requested by the Department Head from others, and making information available to others by mail, email, telephone, and the web.
3. Assists faculty by answering questions and providing information, locating desired information and materials, providing assistance in test preparation, proctoring tests, preparing and/or proofreading manuscripts, correspondence, and other material, obtaining desk copies of textbooks, making travel arrangements, and preparing expense reports.
4. Assists students by determining who can best provide information needed by the student, providing initial assistance to students with questions about classes, registration, permissions, etc. using established guidelines (information in course catalogs, departmental and college documents, and established policies and procedures), and assigning advisors.
5. Obtains equipment, services, and supplies needed by the department by maintaining an inventory of office supplies, purchasing computers, furniture, office supplies and equipment, and supplies and equipment used in the classroom or for research, determining the appropriate method to pay for goods or services purchased by the department following University policy and procedures, and utilizing the appropriate process.
6. Purchases specialized equipment and supplies needed for faculty research projects or classes on a frequent and regular basis by locating suppliers, determining the appropriate method to pay for goods or services purchased by the department following University policy and procedures, and utilizing the appropriate process.
7. Manages multiple departmental, grant, and/or foundation accounts with active purchasing activities, budget transfers, and/or billing by reconciling accounts monthly, maintaining balances of very active accounts and sub-accounts established within the department, and preparing monthly financial reports which are relied on by the Department Head for making financial decisions.
8. Coordinates the development of the semester course schedule by initiating the process by recreating previous semester schedules, contacting faculty to determine courses and sections they wish to teach, obtaining rooms that meet special needs of the courses during the days and times scheduled, contacting per course instructors to teach sections that full-time faculty are unable to teach, preparing personnel action forms and monitoring their approval, entering the courses, sections, instructors, times, dates, and rooms into the database, monitoring course registration, alerting the department head of low or high enrollments and waiting lists, and acting to control distribution of enrollment by sections.
9. Organizes, coordinates, plans, and conducts departmental events by securing space, equipment, food, preparing invitations, announcements, agendas, brochures, and packets, purchasing awards, making travel arrangements and reservations, and overseeing the event as it occurs.
10. Assists with employment processes to varying degrees by preparing the recruiting announcement, monitoring and maintaining credential files of applicants, preparing master files for the search committee, preparing correspondence to applicants, entering required information into the applicant database, preparing position authorization forms and personnel action forms and monitoring their approval, and assisting new employees with processes associated with employment (completion of Form I-9, obtaining access to network resources, arranging office space, equipment, services, and supplies, etc.).
11. May assist with competitive admission processes to undergraduate or graduate programs or with application for departmental scholarships by answering questions about the program, sending out program and/or scholarship information, maintaining databases of required applicant information, monitoring and maintaining applicant files, reviewing information for determine if minimum qualifications are met, and preparing correspondence to applicants.
12. Supports the administrative business functions of the department by obtaining and processing textbook adoptions, organizing the faculty evaluation process, maintaining the departmental website and databases, and assuring security of classrooms, labs, equipment, and records.
13. Remains competent and current by attending professional development courses, software training classes, and courses and/or training sessions as directed by the Department Head or required by the University.
14. Supports the department by performing all other duties as assigned by the department head.
SUPERVISION
The Academic Administrative Assistant III is supervised by the Department Head and generally selects, schedules, assigns, and reviews the work of student workers or Graduate Assistants. The Academic Administrative Assistant III serves as lead administrative support person in the department and assigns and/or reviews the work of other full-time administrative support personnel.
OFFICE OF HUMAN RESOURCES
REVISED JANUARY 2025