Academic Assistant Undergraduate

Overview:
**Term: 12 Months**

The primary role of the incumbent will be to help the School provide a positive experience for our undergraduate students, especially those in their first two years of study. The position will undertake tasks to aid students’ transition into their first year of university study within the School. As a member of the support staff in the undergraduate office, the incumbent is expected to perform the duties of the position within established policies and procedures and according to an established calendar of events, under mínimal supervision, but will receive instructions from the Administrative Coordinator, Undergraduate Studies, the Associate Director, Undergraduate Studies as well as the Administrative Officer. The incumbent is expected to be part of an effective team concerned with all aspects of our undergraduate programs.

**Responsibilities**:
Provide mentorship and advisement services for year-one and year-two students:

- Provide information and advice on matters related to School of Public Health and Health Systems degree programs; provide advisement on other academic issues as required (eg. discuss foundation term or conditional term options); liaison between year one and year two students and the various relevant faculty, departments and services on campus; conduct HLTH 101 tutorials for first year students
- In consultation with the Associate Director-Undergraduate Studies and the Administrative Coordinator - Undergraduate Coordinator, identify students in need of special help or attention, referring students to appropriate services (eg. Counselling services, Access Ability Services, Health Services, etc.)
- Working with Student Success Officer, Administrative Coordinator - Undergraduate Studies and/or Associate Director, Undergraduate Studies, assist in the smooth internal and external student transfers into the program
- Act as a liaison between year-one and year-two students and the various individuals and offices in the School (eg. course instructors, Director, Associate Director-Undergraduate Studies, Administrative Coordinator-Undergraduate Studies) and in the Faculty (eg. Student Services Coordinator)
- Maintain a student community group on LEARN

Project & Initiatives
- Assist in and lead the various special departmental projects and initiatives
- Provide leadership in the development and maintenance of the departmental website, and individual course and faculty member web pages

Recruitment & Orientation
- Assist in the undergraduate recruitment and admission activities
- Assist with the orientation activities for first year students, including the design and updating of student handbooks and other tools
- Update and present an administrative info session to all Health Students only in HLTH 101 tutorial classes
- Update and present a mid-term checkup session for the Health Students in HLTH 101 and HLTH 102
- Assist in the smooth transfer of students into the program

Administration
- Provide back-up and support for the Administrative Coordinator - Undergraduate program.
- Take, edit, and distribute meeting minutes
- Other duties as assigned by the Administrative Coordinator - Undergraduate Studies and the Administrative Officer

Qualifications:

- Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent combination of education and experience
- Previous experience in student advising preferred
- Previous experience working with confidential information and the ability to work independently as well as part of a team is required
- Knowledge of the undergraduate curriculum, policies and regulations related to the University of Waterloo and the School of Public Health and Health System would be considered an asset
- Experience with website maintenance is required
- Experience using Drupal (web content management system) is preferred
- Advanced skills with MS Word and Excel are required. Knowledge of QUEST, Desire-2-Learn, Adobe and PowerPoint and other UW software tools would be desirable
- Excellent verbal and written communication, organizational and problem solving skills, the capacity and demeanor to deal professionally with faculty, students and other university administrative staff at the University of Waterloo, as well as other universities and organizations

Vaccination Requirement Statement:
Failure to comply with the Vaccination Requirement if it is reinstated, including failure to comply with any future amendments to the Vaccination Requirement, or failure to comply with new health and safety policies/requirements implemented by the University, including those related to new mandatory employee vaccination, shall result in discipline up to and including termination of employment.

Equity Statement:
The University of Waterloo is committed to implementing the Calls to Action framed by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. We acknowledge that we live and work on the traditional territory of the Neutral, Anishinaabeg and Haudenosaunee peoples. The University of Waterloo i