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Assistant Director of Operations Graduate Admissions and Recruiting
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Position Number: 1965212
Location: Worcester, MA
Position Type: Business and Financial Management

JOB TITLE
Assistant Director of Operations - Graduate Admissions and Recruiting

LOCATION
Worcester

DEPARTMENT NAME
Graduate Recruitment & Admissions

DIVISION NAME
Worcester Polytechnic Institute - WPI

JOB DESCRIPTION SUMMARY
This person will take overall responsibility for the Graduate Student Funding process which primarily supports hiring of the Research Assistant and Teaching Assistant (RA/TA) populations at WPI. Duties include processing decisions and letters and ensuring that award data is accurately entered and processed in Banner, Workday, Slate, and other systems. Ensures accurate record keeping and compliance with University policies, while processing TA and RA awards. In collaboration with the Executive Director of Graduate Studies, the Assistant Director will provide leadership in developing a high performance, collaborative and diverse work environment. The Assistant Director will ensure quality service and proper implementation of policies and procedures that affect graduate students.

The RA/TA process is extremely complex and involves coordination with all of the academic departments and programs, payroll, Human Resources, the Provost's Office, the Bursar, Sponsored Programs Accounting, the Controller's Office and others. The process requires an extremely high level of attention to detail, patience, and excellent communication skills. The Assistant Director will be able to help improve and streamline the overall RA/RA process, through the use of technology. They will also be responsible for creating and maintaining process and procedural documentation. This is an excellent opportunity for someone to take charge of a critical process that needs to be streamlined and leave a lasting impact across the university.

As the RA/TA process becomes more streamlined, through the use of technology and best practices, the Assistant Director can also learn other admissions and recruiting specific functions within the department. These admissions and recruiting functions may include application review, recruitment, and serving as a high-level liaison between departments and our operations team in regard to application review in Slate, our application and the CRM system. The split between RA/TA process and other admissions functions is approximately 80%/20% but may be revised over time.

This position will require someone who has a strong ability to understand complex, cross-functional business processes and find ways to redesign or re-engineer them. The position requires a high level of attention to detail, good customer service skills, the ability to collaborate with faculty and staff in and out of the unit, and the desire to build and maintain strong relationships across a number of departments and functional areas. Additionally, this role will also play an important outward facing role to prospective students, which requires a friendly and professional demeanor as we help prospective students navigate the application and admission process.

The successful candidate for this role will have the unique opportunity to be in a highly visible role at the university with faculty, staff, and high-level administratorsas well as current, incoming, and prospective students. Anyone with a strong desire to interact with most of the university at the graduate level, help students achieve their academic goals, and redesign or re-imagine a core process within a university will find themselves welcome in this role.

JOB DESCRIPTION

Primary Duty and Responsibilities

Maintains current-state process documentation and procedures guides for the RA/TA processes.
Oversees payroll and tuition credit authorizations for all graduate Teaching Assistants and Research Assistants.
Serves as the primary contact with academic department staff in completing payroll and tuition credit authorizations. Answers departmental staff questions in preparing authorizations. Communicates deadlines to academic departments regarding Teaching Assistant appointments. Serves as liaison with the Payroll Office and Human Resources regarding graduate student pay.
Works with the Executive Director, as well as other functional areas, to identify and implement opportunities for streamlining the Graduate Student Funding process through technology, increased process efficiency, and the transfer of some responsibilities to different departments.
Serves as the first point of contact for staff, faculty, and students who have questions about the graduate student funding process. Answers questions, gathers information requiring discretion/confidentiality, and provides a wide variety and depth of knowledge of office operations and procedures. Redirects staff, faculty, and students to the functional experts on their specific issues.
Interacts regularly with various internal and external constituencies, including administration, faculty, students, and staff.
Tracks the progress of graduate students in completing mandatory trainings (i.e., Teaching Assistants, Sexual Harassment) and assists Health Services in ensuring that graduate students have required vaccinations.
Orders the hoods for Ph.D. student commencement.
Uses a variety of business application software to successfully complete information management tasks.
Tracks departmental usage of TAs in conversation with their central TA allocation. Communicates with faculty regarding the use of these funds, the stipend rates for students, and any necessary deadlines.
Maintains the faculty start-up spreadsheet (with regards to RAs) in collaboration with the Provost's Office. Communicates with faculty regarding the use of these funds, the stipend rates for students, and any necessary deadlines.
Maintains the budget for and completes the processing for graduate student fellowships.
Works very closely with Graduate Coordinators and staff in the academic units.
Performs as needed, responsibilities of a key administrator position due to vacancies, illness, or injuries.
Works closely with departments on their questions and issues surrounding online application review and admission decisions
Recruits students for all on-campus graduate programs.
Other admissions and recruiting jobs as necessary.
Other duties as assigned.

Position Requirements

Bachelor's Degree.
Extreme detail orientation with the ability to recognize and investigate data anomalies.
Proven ability to handle confidential information securely and with discretion.
Strong interpersonal skills.
Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively as a member of a team.
Experience in financial and organizational management, accounting, and budget development.
Experience in business process documentation, creating process flows, and in developing training materials
Ability to prioritize and organize work effectively and to manage several projects simultaneously.
Ability to travel domestically with the possibility of some international travel.
Ability to relate well to students, faculty, and staff across the campus community.

FLSA STATUS
United States of America (Exempt)

WPI is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified candidates will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, age, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran status, or disability. We are seeking individuals with diverse backgrounds and experiences who will contribute to a culture of creativity and collaboration, inclusion, problem solving and change making.

To apply, visit: https://wpi.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/WPI_External_Career_Site/job/Worcester/Assistant-Director-of-Operations---Graduate-Admissions-and-Recruiting_R0001024

About WPI
WPI is a vibrant, active, and diverse community of extraordinary students, world-renowned faculty, and state of the art research facilities. At WPI, we have competitive and comprehensive benefits, including health insurance, long-term care, retirement, tuition assistance, flexible spending accounts, work-life balance and much more.

Diversity & Inclusion at WPI
WPI is committed to creating an inclusive workplace where everyone feels valued and respected; a place where every student, faculty and staff member can be themselves, so that they can study, live, and work comfortably, to reach their full potential, and make meaningful contributions in order to meet departmental and institutional goals. WPI thrives on innovative practice and welcomes diverse perspectives, insight, and people from diverse lived experiences, to enhance the community environment and propel the institution to the next level in a competitive, global marketplace.