Assistant Director, Programs Abroad Office Center for Global Engagement - UTK

This is a full-time position that reports to the Director of Programs Abroad and provides oversight of the daily operations within PAO and strategic support for all the operations and initiatives of the Programs Abroad Office (PAO) that, in turn, support the Center for Global Engagement and UT's Global Vision. Main responsibilities include: overseeing all day-to-day operations of Programs Abroad including (but not limited to) student advising, program contracting, program payments, faculty relations, student application system processes and updates, fiscal management for programs, and participation in any risk management or emergency crises that may arise; providing support for all PAO staff members (in conjunction with the Director) and formal management (including an equitable division of portfolios) of assigned staff members; cultivating and maintaining healthy, productive relationships with both campus and external stakeholders, conducting in-person or virtual site visits, as needed.

• Office and Personnel Oversight
  • Contributes to the development of and implements strategic goals, policies and procedures within the purview of the Programs Abroad Office.
  • Makes decisions about complex issues and has authority to grant exceptions to PAO guidelines and regulations.
  • Builds and maintains healthy, productive relationships with relevant units across campus (Financial Aid, Bursar, Student Disability Services, OneStop, select colleges/departments, other CGE units, etc.)
  • Supervises assigned program coordinators and provides supervision for all other PAO staff members in the Director's absence.
  • Structures and facilitates, onboarding for all assigned coordinators, as noted above.
  • Proposes and facilitates, upon approval, appropriate professional development opportunities for coordinators.

 

• Programs Abroad Budgetary (non-central budgets) and Funding Oversight
  • Independently manages, reviews, revises the process for and creation of Faculty-directed program

budgets

• Responsible for seeking and gaining final approval for all program budgets with the appropriate entities

(generally, the PAO Financial Associate or assigned personnel in the CGE Business Office)

• Manages, reviews, and revises the rectification of all Faculty-Directed Program account.
• Primary approver in UTK financial system (DASH) for all Programs Abroad program-account-related

contracts, invoices and transfers.

 

• Programs Portfolio Development, Management and Oversight 
  • Manages the creation and maintenance of the project management workflow and system related to programs abroad.
  • Negotiates contracts and audits workflow of contracts related to programs abroad, including service contracts with foreign and domestic vendors, ensuring compliance with university policies.
  • Oversees a portfolio of 5-10 Faculty-Directed Programs with the support of specifically assigned coordinators, as needed.
  • Manages the application process for new and renewed programs and makes any necessary changes as requested or authorized by the Director.
  • Independently manages the opening and closing of the application cycle and compiles the needed information for all Faculty-Directed Programs for review from CGE Risk, PAO, and relevant

Department Head and college Financial Officer.

• Creates and maintains training materials and establishes pipelines for faculty and staff related to creation and maintenance of various types of programs abroad.
• Responsible for ensuring timely creation and distribution of marketing materials for all UTK programs abroad, in collaboration with the CGE Communications Manager.
• Travels, at request or approval of Director, to foster better relationships, communication and outcomes with program partners.

 

• Risk Management and Crisis Response
  • Contributes to the development and execution of risk management procedures and protocols for the university’s education abroad population.
  • Serves as a member of the on-call emergency team
    •  Attends and participates in trainings and weekly meetings
    •  Responsible for physical phone (if applicable) and for being primary and back-up contact during assigned rotation periods.
    • Actively participates both in and outside of normal working hours in crisis response discussions and duties, when they arise
  • Responsible for setting up incident response protocol and platform prior to each Academic Year
  • Conducts on-site or virtual reviews of program location, activities, lodging and amenities as requested or authorized by the Director
  • Responsible for seeking collaboration with appropriate university entities (Office