Graduate Field Coordinator-Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology

Graduate Field Coordinator-Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology

The Opportunity

The Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology is seeking a dedicated and detail-oriented Graduate Field Coordinator to join our collaborative and student-focused team. As a key member of the department’s student services unit, the Graduate Field Coordinator works closely with the Assistant Director and two other full-time student services staff to support the needs of ~190 PhD and Master's students and ~30 faculty members.

The Graduate Field Coordinator plays a central role in supporting all aspects of the graduate student experience—from recruitment and admissions to appointments, funding, orientation, progress tracking, and graduation. This position is ideal for someone who enjoys working independently while collaborating with multiple stakeholders across the department, college, and university.

Key Responsibilities:

• Provide outstanding administrative support to approximately 200 graduate students.

• Oversee the graduate student appointment and funding process, including tuition, stipend, and health insurance payments.

• Coordinate admissions processing for ~500 graduate and master’s program applications annually.

• Manage the Chemistry graduate program’s CollegeNET application portal and related communications.

• Track academic progress and manage degree completion processes.

• Organize recruitment, orientation, and commencement activities.

• Maintain accurate records and generate reports as needed for internal use and grant compliance.

• Facilitate communications through listserv management, announcements, and simple promotional materials.

This is a full-time (39 hours/week) endowed position that is based in Ithaca, NY. This position is fully on-site. Work hours are typically 8:00am – 4:00pm with a reasonable degree of flexibility.

About the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology

The Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology is one of the largest and most dynamic departments at Cornell University, boasting a rich legacy of groundbreaking discoveries, game-changing innovations, and world-class scholarship. Education is at the heart of everything we do, with thousands of undergraduate and graduate students engaging with our curriculum and shaping the future of chemistry at Cornell every single year.

What We Need

We are seeking a team member with a collaborative spirit who is results-driven and ready to serve as an essential member of the department’s student services team. Additionally, you will have:

• An Associate’s degree; between two and four years of relevant experience or equivalent combination of education and experience.

• Proven ability to prioritize and perform essential job functions independently, while serving a broad base of stakeholders across the department, college, and university.

• A blend of professional skills needed for success in a student-facing position, including attention to detail, interpersonal communication, time management, conflict resolution and problem-solving.

• Enthusiasm for supporting graduate students and their needs from recruitment through graduation.

• Proven ability to coordinate multi-step processes and events, such as admissions, appointments, recruitment weekend, and orientation.

• Functional command of Microsoft Office Suite applications, particularly Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, and Word.

• Experience with organizational and departmental databases to collect and process student data.

• Ability to steward sensitive academic and financial information on behalf of the department and its students.

• Ability to cultivate and develop inclusive working relationships with students, faculty, staff, and community members. 

If you possess these experiences and skills this may be the role for you! There are a few other qualifications we would view as incredibly helpful in this role, to include:

• Bachelor’s degree

• Graduate field experience or student services experience preferred. Specifically, direct experience coordinating graduate student appointments and financial awards a plus.

• Understanding of Cornell University graduate program policies and procedures, and experience using CollegeNet and Peoplesoft programs a plus.

• Experience with any of the following systems and applications will be helpful: Google Suite (docs, sheets, drive), Box, IntraNet, PeopleSoft, CourseLeaf CLSS, Workday, Salesforce, 25Live, Adobe Acrobat, InDesign, and Photoshop, AI applications (ChatGPT and/or Sandbox AI), Canva, Qualtrics