Description

Job Summary

The Senior Staff Assistant reports to the School Director and plays a key role in supporting the administrative, operational, and financial functions of the school. This position ensures effective coordination among faculty, staff, and students by managing day-to-day operations of the school office, supporting events, and serving as a front-line contact for inquiries. The role includes calendar management, meeting coordination, faculty onboarding, adjunct hiring, and oversight of student employees. Financial responsibilities include budget tracking, account reconciliation, processing reimbursements, and supporting purchasing activities. The Senior Staff Assistant collaborates with various university departments and ensures compliance with institutional policies. This role requires a high level of organization, attention to detail, discretion, and the ability to manage multiple priorities efficiently.
Please Note: Occasional evening or weekend work may be required to support events such as orientations or commencement.

Job Responsibilities

Administrative Support and Coordination

• Provide daily support to the department office, answering inquiries from students, faculty, and visitors.
• Assist the School Director with scheduling meetings, managing calendars, and preparing meeting materials.
• Handle general office communications, mass email distributions, and coordination of materials for meetings and retreats.
• Support in the planning and execution of school, college or institute events such as guest speakers, commencement, Imagine RIT, etc.
• Assist the school with visiting guest speakers by providing services related to hospitality, travel, and meeting logistics including speaker fees.
• Manage office student employees - interviewing, hiring, scheduling, training and timecard approvals.
• Work with faculty who manage student employees to review timecards, payroll guidelines and signoff.
• Assist faculty with filling their expense reimbursements
• Order supplies to support the school office, faculty, and students.
• Administrative processing of appointment letters for all adjunct instructors hires, summer courses, and course overload.
• Onboarding of new faculty - assist with office and computer set up as well as any other faculty onboarding needs (i.e. supplies, phone, signage email, moving reimbursements, etc.)

Student Support:

• Serve as a front-line contact for student inquiries, walk-ins, and requests for support.
• Assist with student group requests.
• Support onboarding and payroll processing for office student employees.
• Assist students with processing payments for capstones and class projects.
• Oversight of the departmental scholarships and awards process.

Financial Services Support

• Monitor and reconcile school and project accounts, including professional development funds and grants such as FEAD
• Process journal entries as needed for school and project accounts.
• Process summer salaries, adjunct pay, and faculty overload payments.
• Responsible for monthly certification of departmental procurement cards, including transaction processing, reconciliation, compliance review, coding, and documentation.
• Process travel arrangements and expense reimbursements for the School Director.
• Assist faculty with processing and submitting expense reimbursements.
• Process purchase requisitions and invoice payments.
• Manage A/R invoicing, including vendor and supplier setup in the system.
• Assist with faculty-lead study abroad and field trips by preparing and submitting required documentation, track expenditures, collect fees, and perform budget reconciliations.
• Collaborate with the CAD Financial Partner and School Director on year-end closing activities.

Guest and Visitor Services:

• Coordinate logistics for guests, including room reservations, catering, and visitor support services.
• Respond to inquiries from students, staff, faculty and visitors.
• Arrange for tours and visits from prospective families.

Communication and Information Management:

• Coordinate routine communications within the department
• Coordinate with other departments such as Marketing and Communications, CAD Tech, Student Services, Alumni Relations, and Admissions.

Other duties as assigned in support of the school, college and institution.

Required Qualifications

Experience & Qualifications:

• HS or GED
• 1-2 years' administrative support or customer service work experience
• Exceptional communication skills: reading, writing, and verbal (in person and over the telephone)
• Excellent organizational and customer service skills, strong attention to detail, and comfortable working in a team environment
• Ability to maintain confidentiality and adhere to protocols and policies
• Adapt quickly to new technology and equipment

Skills:

• Advanced knowledge of Microsoft Outlook, Word, Excel and Google Suite
• Experienced in scheduling virtual webinars and meetings in platforms such as Zoom
• Experience using Workday

Department/College Description

RIT's College of Art and Design is the university's creative hub where art, design, science, and technology intersect in our 200,000+ sq. ft. facility. We are a dynamic and professional arts and design community comprised of nearly 2,000 students (UG and Grad), 140 full-time faculty, 60 creative staff, and a number of professional part-time faculty, all of whom contribute to our College's ecosystem. The College's four schools offer programs in Art, Design, Crafts, Film and Animation, Photography and Photographic Sciences. The range of innovative programs offers students a panoramic perspective from creating fine art using centuries-old methods to pushing the boundaries of digital creativity. The College of Art and Design also takes full advantage of RIT's opportunities in technology, STEM, engineering, sustainability, and entrepreneurism programs, as well as our global campuses, https://rit.edu/artdesign.

How To Apply

In order to be considered for this position, you must apply for it at: http://careers.rit.edu/staff. Click the link for search openings and in the keyword search field, enter the title of the position or the BR number.

Additional Details

In compliance with NYS's Pay Transparency Act, the salary range for this position is listed above. Rochester Institute of Technology considers factors such as (but not limited to) scope and responsibilities of the position, candidate's work experience, education/training, key skills, internal peer equity, as well as, market and organizational considerations when extending an offer. The hiring process for this position may require a criminal background check and/or motor vehicle records check. Any verbal or written offer made is contingent on satisfactory results, as determined by Human Resources. RIT provides equal opportunity to all qualified individuals and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, creed, age, marital status, sex, gender, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, veteran status or disability in its hiring, admissions, educational programs and activities. RIT provides reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities under the Rehabilitation Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the New York Human Rights Law, or similar applicable law. If you need reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process, please contact the Human Resources office at 585-475-2424 or email your request to hr@rit.edu. Determinations on requests for reasonable accommodation will be made on a case-by-case basis.