Administrative Assistant

Overview:
**Term: 1 year**

The Administrative Assistant is responsible for the efficient daily operations of the Chair’s office. The Administrative Assistant provides support, oversight and guidance for faculty recruiting, tenure and promotion, faculty merit, sabbaticals and academic appointments including Visitors, Post-Doctoral Fellows, Research Associates, etc. The incumbent will provide essential services to the Department facilitating the smooth and efficient operation of departmental activities in a manner consistent with the Department’s goals and objectives. The Administrative Assistant manages confidential records and provides administrative support to the Chair, Associate Chairs and Administrative Officer. The Administrative Assistant is equally accountable to the Chair and the Administrative Officer.

**Responsibilities**:
Administrative Assistant to the Chair and Support to Administrative Officer
- Provide comprehensive direction and guidance to the Chair to meet the teaching, research, outreach and advancement activities/goals of the Department;
- Ensures the effective functioning of the Chair’s office through meeting management, document creation/management and travel arrangements; keeps Chair apprised of priorities and urgent matters requiring immediate attention;
- Provide direction and prepares confidential information on behalf of the Chair;
- Provide advice and guidance on policies and procedures related to faculty recruiting, tenure and promotion, merit, sabbaticals and appointments;
- Provide administrative support for program reviews including requesting data and preparing and summarizing statistical reports;
- Arrange Department, Promotion and Tenure, DACA, Safety and Executive Committee meetings on behalf of the Chair and Administrative Officer;
- Prepare minutes for Executive Committee, Department, and Promotion and Tenure Meetings and distribute the minutes to the committees and posts on the internal SharePoint site;
- Prepare confidential information on behalf of the Chair and Administrative Officer;
- Monitor committee membership and manages confidential electronic voting process for renewals and new appointments;
- Coordinate bookings for departmental events (rooms, audiovisual, catering etc.);
- Coordinate travel arrangements for faculty hires
- Assist with strategic projects under the direction of Chair, Associate Chairs and Administrative Officer;
- Facilitate administrative continuity as academic administrator appointments change through effective record keeping, training and mentoring, provides stability during the transitional periods of a new Chair;
- Provide informed support on Departmental, Faculty and University procedural practices as well as detail historical context which is important in providing appropriate background knowledge to the new Chair to make informed suggestions and decisions

Faculty Recruiting
- Coordinate advertising and submit advertisements to the appropriate channels for faculty recruiting according to university policy;
- Coordinate DACA meetings and prepare UARC documents;
- Act as a resource person to newly-hired faculty members to answer questions and provide resources related to the Department, Faculty and University

Tenure and Promotion
- Coordinate tenure and promotion proceedings, in consultation with the Chair, according to university policies;
- Schedule DTPC meetings and take minutes;
- Coordinate the final brief and submissions to the Faculty of Science

Faculty Merit
- Establish department merit review timeline in conjunction with the Dean of Science Office and policy;
- Collect faculty submissions (CV’s and merit templates) and upload to SharePoint including course evaluation summaries and statistics for the Merit Committee;
- Prepare summary of final merit ratings and submit to the Dean of Science Office;
- Prepare confidential summary sheets for each faculty member and arrange follow-up meetings with the Chair as required

Sabbaticals and Leaves
- Calculate and verify sabbatical leave entitlements;
- Provide information on policies, processes and deadlines for other leaves, retirement and termination

Academic Appointments
- Prepare appointment contracts for new faculty, associate chairs, sessional instructors, post-doctoral fellows, research associates, visiting scholars, adjuncts, cross-appointments and volunteers;
- Prepare immigration documents for foreign workers and international visitors in consultation with the University immigration specialist;
- Monitor contract end dates for definite term and probationary term appointments and ensure renewals are processed in a timely manner;
- Submit termination notifications in Workday for completed contracts and faculty retirements

Supervisory Responsibilities:

- Collaboratively with the Administrative Officer establishes workloads of the main office staff;
- Evaluate, prepare, and conduct annual performance evaluation for the P/T direct reporting staff role and meet with the sta