• Job Type: Officer of Administration
• Bargaining Unit:
• Regular/Temporary: Regular
• End Date if Temporary:
• Hours Per Week: 35
• Standard Work Schedule:
• Building:
• Salary Range: $66,300 - $66,300

Position Summary

Reporting to the Assistant Director of Instruction and Curriculum, the Program Specialist plays a key operational role in the planning, coordination, and execution of the Pre-College academic portfolio. The Specialist independently manages course scheduling workflows, instructor onboarding and compliance processes, instructional support operations, and data reporting across a high-volume portfolio serving grades 9–12.

This position exercises judgment in resolving scheduling conflicts, ensuring compliance with university policies related to minors and instructor appointments, maintaining data integrity across systems, and coordinating with shared service partners (Registrar, Faculty Affairs, Student Life, HR, Finance, Events, Web). During peak summer operations, the Specialist provides functional oversight and workflow direction to seasonal staff to ensure seamless program delivery.

Responsibilities

Course Management

• In collaboration with the Assistant Director and the Office of the Registrar, develop, update, and maintain course schedules and classroom assignments within Course Management and related systems, ensuring accuracy, alignment with program needs, and adherence to institutional policies and timelines. 
• In partnership with the Assistant Director, oversee the quality control process for approximately 350 courses annually, ensuring accurate entry into the university course database system and verifying consistency across the official course schedule, program website, and Directory of Classes. 
• Working closely with the Office of the Registrar, troubleshoot and resolve classroom-related issues, including coordinating reservations for one-off events and activities, initiating classroom reassignments as needed, and reviewing classroom assignments to evaluate capacity, configuration, and accessibility to ensure alignment with course and program requirements.

Instructional Support

• Manage the Pre-College shared inbox and Zendesk support platform, serving as the primary point of contact for instructor inquiries; assess, prioritize, and respond to requests, and coordinate or delegate issues to the seasonal instructional support team as appropriate to ensure timely resolution. 
• Manage the collection of course syllabi for each term and review each submission to ensure they abide by Pre-College Committee on Instruction (COI) approved standards (follow approved template, assignments are listed clearly and learning objectives are clearly outlined).
• Coordinate with members from the Team for Instructional and Pedagogical Support (TIPS) to connect instructors with TIPS team members for pedagogical assistance, which includes consultations, syllabi review, specialized training events, and related tasks.

Instructor Hiring & Recruitment

• Oversee the maintenance and integrity of the annual hiring database for over 350 instructional appointments, ensuring accurate, timely, and confidential management of personal, compensation, and other sensitive appointment data.
• Coordinate and oversee the onboarding process for instructional hires, ensuring completion of mandatory background checks and related compliance requirements, including Protection of Minors (POM) and Anti-Harassment and Discrimination training, in accordance with University policy. Responsibilities include communicating policy expectations to instructional hires, facilitating registration for required trainings, monitoring and auditing compliance, conducting follow-up outreach to non-compliant individuals, and exercising judgment in escalating issues to departmental leadership as appropriate.
• Develop and aggregate instructor review documentation to inform rehire decisions and recommendations for professional development.
• Develop and execute instructor availability surveys and assist with scheduling decisions and course appointments.
• Assist in record keeping of the Instructor Master Sheet and ensure quality control over all records, which include historical compensation rates, instructor education records, curricular assignments, and other relevant information.
• In coordination with academic leadership and the Recruitment Department, support the instructional recruitment process, including conducting preliminary reviews of instructor applications to assess minimum qualifications, organizing and synthesizing CVs and teaching evaluations for leadership review, managing interview communications and scheduling, and assisting in the development and distribution of recruitment materials and communications.
• In coordination with academic leadership and the Recruitment Department, conduct preliminary reviews of Teaching Assistant applications to assess minimum qualifications and distribute qualified candidate materials to instructors for further consideration.

Events & Communications

• Serve as the first point of contact for requests and queries from departments and instructors.
• Plan, coordinate, and oversee event logistics for program initiatives, including symposiums, instructor speaker series, instructor orientations, Master Class Moments, and other program-sponsored events, ensuring effective execution, stakeholder coordination, and adherence to program standards.
• Distribute instructor-oriented announcements and information, including the instructor newsletter.
• Maintain and perform quality control for the program website, including reviewing, creating, and updating course description pages to ensure accuracy, consistency, and alignment with program standards.
• Assist with creating training materials for facilitators and instructors.

General

• Ensure instructors have completed their student letters of evaluation and initiate follow-up and support to instructors when necessary.
• Serve as a liaison between instructors, Student Affairs, and the Office of the Registrar to ensure students registered with the Office of Disability Services are properly supported within the classroom.
• Serve as a liaison between instructors, Faculty Affairs, and the Office of Disability Services to ensure instructor needs are properly met within the classroom; this includes ensuring assigned classrooms meet accessibility requirements, ID access permissions are properly assigned, and other related tasks.
• While programs are in session, troubleshoot instructional and academic issues, including but not limited to emergencies, illness-related absences, field trips, guest speakers, and general instructional support, etc.
• Support Assistant Director(s) with tracking of attendance and following up with partners in Student Affairs.
• Manage and maintain Canvas course sites, including troubleshooting technical or access-related issues in coordination with University partners and ensuring timely publication and accuracy of course content.
• Independently collect, analyze, and interpret program data; prepare detailed reports and executive-level summaries to inform planning and instructional resource decisions.
• Manage the acquisition and coordination of instructional materials.
• In coordination with the Senior, Associate, and Assistant Directors, provide functional leadership to a team of seasonal Coordinators during the summer term, including training, workflow delegation, and ongoing guidance to ensure program standards, timelines, and service expectations are met.

Perform other duties and responsibilities as assigned/requested.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree and/or equivalent related experience
• 0 - 2 years related experience.
• A resume and cover letter with salary requirements must be submitted for consideration

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in academic program administration with preference given to candidates with experience working with Pre-College programs
• 1 - 2 years of related experience

Other Requirements

• Excellent communication and organizational skills and exceptional attention to detail essential
• Ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously, capacity to adapt quickly to changing circumstances, and ability to perform non-routine work required
• Strong leadership and interpersonal skills required
• Computer literacy required, including use of MS Word, Excel, and other software as it becomes necessary and available

Equal Opportunity Employer / Disability / Veteran

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