Graduate Program Assistant Jobs in Burnaby, BC (NOW HIRING)

Note: Applications will be accepted until 11:59 PM on the Posting End Date.

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At UBC, we believe that attracting and sustaining a diverse workforce is key to the successful pursuit of excellence in research, innovation, and learning for all faculty, staff and students. Our commitment to employment equity helps achieve inclusion and fairness, brings rich diversity to UBC as a workplace, and creates the necessary conditions for a rewarding career.

Job Description Summary
This position provides senior administrative coordination within the Dean's Office admin support team. This role coordinates and oversees administrative processes for the Associate Dean, Equity; the Director, Innovation and Business Development; and the Director, Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies. In addition, the position provides administrative support for the Strategic Plan Implementation Phase and the Peer Review of Teaching process by coordinating, tracking, recording and reporting process administrative workflows.

The Associate Dean, Equity is responsible for External Reviews of units and the faculty, Allocation of faculty awards, Progress on the faculty and university's strategic plans regards to EDI, as well as providing heads with strategic advice and access to Arts and data analytics.

The Director, Innovation and Business Development is responsible for providing strategic leadership and planning to enhance and develop new and innovative revenue generating programs, initiatives, and offerings in the Faculty of Arts.

The Director, Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies is responsible for providing strategic leadership and planning to enhance and develop new and innovative revenue generating programs, initiatives, and offerings in the Faculty of Arts. Works directly with the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies.

The administrative assistant is expected to develop and maintain organize administrative systems and complete tasks and special projects that support the work of the Associate Dean and Directors. The position requires a thorough knowledge of office routines, University policies and procedures as well as data collection, analysis and presentation.
Organizational Status
The position interacts regularly with other Associate and Assistant Deans, Deans Office staff, Faculty of Arts Service Centres; Heads, Directors, and Chairs of Departments, Schools, Institutes, and Programs in the Faculty, as well as faculty, staff, and students from all areas and levels of the University. This position also liaises with other Deans offices, the Presidents office, the Equity office, the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, advisory board members, as well as stakeholders external to the University.
Work Performed
General Duties

• Oversees the administrative workflow for multiple Associate Dean and Directors portfolios by maintaining workplans, tracking deliverables, schedules appointments and meetings, determining urgency and importance, identifying conflicting priorities and deadlines, and ensuring the Associate Dean and Directors are informed on a variety of administrative details
• Acts as the primary administrative contact for portfolio-related processes; Responds to oral and written inquiries of an interpretive nature based on a thorough knowledge of the work of the Associate Dean and Directors, the Dean's Office, the University and Deans Office mission
• Develops and maintains internal tracking systems for the Associate Dean and Directors; ensures data accuracy, deadline monitoring, and follows-up with departments or stakeholders where information is incomplete or missing
• Independently composes complex correspondence, collects data, organizes, analyzes and presents in appropriate format for review
• Assists Associate Dean and Directors as directed with communications within the Faculty of Arts, within UBC and external stakeholders
• Drafts a variety of reports, letters and other miscellaneous documents
• Oversees the administrative cycle for various awards such as Killam Teaching Award, Killam Graduate Teaching Assistant Award, Dean of Arts Educational Leadership and Innovation Award; coordinates timelines, communicates nomination requirements, reviews submissions for completeness, identifies eligibility or documentation issues, tracks award decisions and ensures outcomes are processed and communicated appropriately.
• Prepares financial claims for the Associate Dean and Directors; Maintain records of expenses; Tracks reimbursements
• Makes travel arrangements for the Associate Dean and Directors
• Acts as resource person with regards to the portfolio they support. Resolves any discrepancies by exercising sound judgment and clarifying University policies and procedures
• Shares responsibility with other staff in the Dean s Office Admin Support Team for setting up and maintaining records of the office and administrative procedures required to maintain compliance in accordance with UBC policies and procedures
• Coordinates special events for the Associate Dean and Directors and works with others to coordinate and support special events for the Dean s Office
• Provide coverage for other admin support staff in the office when needed
• Performs other duties related to the qualifications and developing needs of the job
  

Peer Review of Teaching

• Liaises with Peer Review Coordinator to coordinate administrative requirements related to the PRT process
• Oversees administrative tracking for faculty requiring PRT. Identifies gaps or conflicts, follows up with departments, monitors completion status, and ensures records are complete for reporting or future reviews. Creates, maintains, tracks, and distributes faculty PRT lists (including who needs PTR and who is available to conduct them).
• Schedules PRT Workshops and coordinates PRT meeting prep needs.
• Prepares and reviews PRT documentation for completeness, consistency and readiness for review.
• Maintains confidential PRT records; ensures records are organized to support reporting and future review cycles

Strategic Plan Implementation

• Schedules SPI-related meetings on behalf of the Dean's Office (e.g., Advisory Committee meetings, monthly SPI Strategy & Decision meetings), initiated by the Dean, the Organizational Development and Engagement Specialist, Action Leads, and other stakeholders as required.
• Tracks decisions and actions items, follows up on deliverables, and ensures materials are prepared and circulated according to established timelines.
• Supporting Action Leads in advancing assigned SPI initiatives. This may include data gathering, preparation of preliminary analyses and reports, and compiling relevant policies, benchmarks, and statistics.
• Oversees the preparation of annual and quarterly reports by coordinating data collection from Heads of Department, reviews submissions for completeness and consistency, to support the development of FOA KPIs. This work will be undertaken in collaboration with and under the guidance of the Organizational Development and Engagement Specialist.
• Coordinates and/or supports the organization of SPI-related events, including Annual Town Halls, focus groups, and other stakeholder engagement sessions.

Reception

• Physically seated at the front desk. Acts as a main point of contact for the office receiving visitors, answering the phone, and redirecting queries as appropriate. This includes greeting visitors, seating them, and informing the appropriate person of their arrival.
• Assist with booking meeting rooms for Faculty of Arts departments, which may require set-up and clean-up of meeting rooms (setting out water, washing dishes etc.).
• May handle incoming/outgoing mail, courier pick-ups and deliveries.
  

Consequence of Error/Judgement
Incumbent must be able to coordinate work and set own deadlines so that needs of the Associate Dean and Directors are met in a timely way. The inability to coordinate and prioritize work would result in internal and external deadlines not being met. Failure to do so can cause serious delays and damage to the Associate Dean and Directors 's work and reputation.

The incumbent represents the Associate Dean and Directors, the Dean s Office and University to those external to UBC and their communication must be professional, reflecting the appropriate level of diplomacy, courtesy, sensitivity, and grace.

The incumbent is expected to be thorough, tactful, helpful with faculty members and staff, and to exercise care, attention to detail, tact, discretion, and excellent judgment in all aspects of the job. The incumbent deals with a large volume of highly confidential material and is privy to confidential conversations. Confidentiality must be maintained at all times.

Failure to meet these standards of performance, errors in judgment, or poor decision-making could lead to lost opportunities, delays for the Associate Dean and Directors and the Dean's Office, negatively impacting the reputation of the Faculty, Dean's Office, and the University.
Supervision Received
The incumbent reports to the Executive Coordinator to the Dean and is expected to work independently under broad direction from the Executive Coordinator, the Associate Dean, and or Directors.
Supervision Given
None.
Minimum Qualifications
- Willingness to respect diverse perspectives, including perspectives in conflict with one's own

- Demonstrates a commitment to enhancing one's own awareness, knowledge, and skills related to equity, diversity, and inclusion

- High School graduation, plus a two year post-secondary diploma, plus four years of related experience or an equivalent combination of education and experience

Preferred Qualifications
Ability to resolve problems, to accept responsibility and to communicate effectively in both verbal and written form and to work effectively with people of diverse cultural backgrounds. Must have a very high level of skill with regard to PC use including word processing, data base and spreadsheet programs (particularly MS Word and Excel) and must be able to apply these systems and applications to the complexity of data and work. A high level of accuracy is also required (thus ability to double check work). Ability to manage e-mail (Outlook, FASmail) and to contribute to website management (WordPress). Ability to type 50-60 wpm; operate office equipment such as calculators, copy machines, and data projectors; input data and draw data from University systems such as Workday, PAIR, ORS. Ability to schedule and prioritize workload a necessity. Ability to exercise initiative, tact and discretion and maintain a positive attitude. Ability to be congenial and diplomatic, to work in tight quarters and be respectful of others, to work under pressure to meet deadlines, to work both independently and in a team environment.