A cover letter is required for consideration for this position and should be attached as the first page of your resume. Resumes submitted without a cover letter will not be reviewed. The cover letter should address your specific interest in the position and outline the ways that your skills and experience will make you effective in this role. An enthusiastic, welcoming, inclusive, and cheerful personality is critical. To apply to this position a cover letter is required and should be submitted as the first page of your resume. The cover letter should address your relevant experience related to this position, and your commitment to student services and supporting diverse communities.
The Department of Economics at the University of Michigan is one of the premier economics departments in the world and the Economics Program Assistant serves as our public face. The Program Assistant is responsible for providing a broad range of assistance to our faculty, graduate and undergraduate students, staff, and visitors. We are a diverse intellectual community dedicated to excellence through research and teaching; learn more about the department at www.lsa.umich.edu/econ.
The Economics Program Assistant is primarily responsible for greeting and assisting everyone who enters the Department's main office and handling the day-to-day activities of the Departments front office services. About 40% of the incumbents time will be spent on these functions, with the top priority duty being assuring that the first stop for faculty, students, and visitors into the Departments main office is a welcoming and helpful experience. In addition to being the primary receptionist for the department, the Program Assistant orders, stocks and maintains inventory of office and kitchen supplies, distributes mail, reports facilities problems, maintains and coordinates service contracts and repairs for the department's office equipment, assists faculty and GSIs with the copying of course materials, manages the proctor pool program within the department, supports the economics tutoring program and ensures that the department's public spaces are maintained. The Program Assistant also schedules and handles the set-up for the department's meeting spaces and visitor offices. The Program Assistant assists with ordering supplies/food and set-up/tear-down for events for or sponsored by the Department, including those hosted by sponsored student organizations. The Program Assistant monitors the primary student advising email account, answering questions as appropriate and forwarding issues not able to be addressed by the faculty advisors to the Director of Undergraduate Studies or the Department Chair.
Approximately 45% of the Program Assistant's time is spent as a crucial member of the department's Curriculum Team. Partnering with the Associate Chair and Undergraduate Program Coordinator, the Program Assistant puts together each semester's time schedule and course guide, assisting faculty with course publicity as needed. The Program Assistant works with the Undergraduate Program Coordinator and Student Services Manager to monitor course enrollments, update statistics, manage section capacities, issue overrides, and make recommendations regarding course capacity changes. The program assistant also oversees the tracking and communication of individual faculty teaching loads, including tracking planned leaves and available course-releases, and will assist other department staff with the preparation of teaching comparison data for faculty reviews.
Associates degree or equivalent combination of education and experience. Excellent interpersonal, written, and oral communication skills are vital; a successful candidate will thrive in providing efficient, empathetic, equitable, and inclusive services to (and working effectively with) a diverse group of students, faculty and staff. There may be times when the person in this role must interact with alumni, donors, parents or other stakeholders, so being able to react appropriately to and effectively diffuse stressful interpersonal situations is important, as is discretion when handling sensitive information.
The Economics Department depends on our staff to work successfully in a team environment, as well as work independently, so the successful candidate will be a self-starter and show initiative; have excellent organizational, critical thinking, and problem solving skills; be able to set priorities and handle multiple assignments and deadlines; learn quickly and stay calm in the face of concurrent tasks; and display excellent judgment while operating in a flexible and highly professional manner. The desire to identify opportunities for efficiency in existing processes and procedures, as well as present ideas for ways to increase or make our services better; and a willingness to assume additional responsibilities, will be appreciated.
We require a high level of proficiency with information technology applications including spreadsheets, word processing, email (preferably G-Mail), and other G-Suite programs. A high degree of attention to detail and accuracy is critical in order to be successful in this position.
The expected work schedule for this position is 8am-5pm, Monday-Friday with a 1 hour lunch, and the majority of the positions work is expected to be conducted on-site, though occasionally this role will require flexing hours or working overtime in order to assist with evening events. The person in this position will need to be able to move and transport materials (e.g. cases of paper and boxes of other supplies up to 50lbs both with a cart or carrying short distances) and to set-up/tear down and carry folding chairs/tables.
Bachelor's degree is strongly desired. Experience working in a higher education setting and an interest in student development and college academic affairs are preferred.
The salary range is $33,800 to $42,200, please note a higher salary may be offered based on equity and the select candidates experience.
As one of the worlds great liberal arts colleges, LSA pushes the boundaries of what is understood about the human experience and the natural world, and we foster the next generation of rigorous and empathetic thinkers, creators, and contributors to the state of Michigan, the nation, and the world.
To learn more about diversity, equity, and inclusion in LSA, please visit lsa.umich.edu/lsa/dei.
To learn more about LSAs Mission, Vision and Values, please visit lsa.umich.edu/strategicvision.
The University of Michigan conducts background checks on all job candidates upon acceptance of a contingent offer and may use a third party administrator to conduct background checks. Background checks are performed in compliance with the Fair Credit R
