Position Summary

Reporting to both Assistant Provosts for Academic Appointments, the Assistant Director works closely with the Associate Provost for Academic Appointments in managing the daily operations of the University's academic appointments process. The Assistant Director executes a wide variety of responsibilities pertaining to the unit’s finances, operations, and communications and assists the senior staff in the Division of Academic Appointments in administering policies and maintaining various databases relating to academic personnel. The Assistant Director enforces the policies governing academic leaves, including sabbatical leaves for tenured faculty and helps maintain the leave records of academic personnel throughout the University, including Sabbatical Forecasts and Service Records.

Responsibilities

Manages the appointment paperwork and its timely submission to Human Resources for processing and/or return of materials to departments and schools; troubleshoots problems that academic departments and/or the Human Resources Processing Center (HRPC) encounter with tracking electronic and paper appointments, reappointments, and terminations.

Ensures that the Division’s electronic and paper records are in order and easily accessible to all the staff in the Division; and works with the staff in University Archives to ensure proper retention and off-site storage for historical records. Manages the quality and data integrity of the historical data in the Division’s Academic Appointments Database (AAD).

Prepares, monitors, and reconciles the budget of the Division of Academic Appointments and handles all financial affairs, including tracking spending,  financial reporting, and  all procurement, vendor selection, audit and reconciliation processes for the Division under the guidance of the Vice Provost for Administration’s staff.

Working with the Associate Provost prepares, proofreads, and distributes the monthly reports for the Trustees' Academic Affairs Committee.

Manages the complex schedules of the Associate Provost and Assistant Provosts; acts as the primary contact for offices of senior University administrators; triages incoming and outgoing documents; monitors electronic communications to and from the Academic Appointments Division; and drafts correspondence for the Associate Provost and Assistant Provosts.

Supervises the work study students/casuals in the office, and is responsible for submitting their hours for Payroll processing.

Works closely with the Associate Provost and Assistant Provosts on special and/or time sensitive projects assigned by various members of the Provost's senior staff. 

Other tasks as assigned.  

Minimum Qualifications

Bachelor's degree and/or its equivalent and a minimum of 3 years of related experience required.

Working knowledge of academic appointments required. Knowledge of PeopleSoft required.

The incumbent must have the experience, judgment, initiative, foresight, flexibility, and energy required to ensure that the Division functions smoothly and meets the needs of the University’s academic community.

Administrative experience in an institution of higher education, preferably in an executive office. Familiarity with word processing, spreadsheet software, and database management software, preferably ACCESS. Excellent organizational skills. Excellent oral and written communication skills. Great attention to detail and accuracy absolutely necessary; must be able to proofread accurately. Ability to work independently and handle multiple time-sensitive tasks under short deadlines. Ability to handle confidential information with great discretion.  Point of contact for the interaction between the Division of Academic Appointments and the offices of senior University administrators. Ability to supervise staff. Ability to work with staff at all levels of the organization.

Equal Opportunity Employer / Disability / Veteran

Columbia University is committed to the hiring of qualified local residents.