Temporary HR & Payrol Assistant

The College of Architecture, Art, and Planning (AAP) is seeking a Temporary HR Administrative Associate to join our Human Resources team. This is a customer service-oriented role that provides essential human resources and payroll support across the college.

As the first point of contact for our office, you will be the face of the AAP Operations office, ensuring a welcoming environment for faculty, staff, students, and visitors. Your attention to detail, professionalism, and ability to multitask will be keys to your success.

Hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00 am - 4:30 pm, onsite in Sibley Hall on Cornell’s Ithaca Campus.

   

Key Responsibilities

Front Desk & Office Support

• Serve as the first point of contact for walk-ins and phone calls; triage inquiries with professionalism and courtesy.
• Direct employees to appropriate HR, benefits, and policy resources.
• Provide general administrative support to the AAP Operations team.
• Open, sort, and distribute incoming mail.
• Order supplies and serve as the office P-card holder and backup for college units.

Human Resources Administration

• Process HR transactions for hires, promotions, terminations, and leaves.
• Handle sensitive HR matters with discretion and professionalism.
• Provide backup and general support for HR and payroll processing across the college.

Student & Graduate Employment

• Manage recruitment, onboarding, and administrative tasks for hourly and graduate student workers.
• Ensure completion of required documentation (I-9, confidentiality forms, Workday applications).
• Maintain student employment tools and update appointment data for directories and systems.
• Serve as liaison for undergraduate and graduate student employment questions.

Payroll Support

• Audit time entries and process payroll corrections and adjustments.
• Handle overpayment procedures and ensure compliance with university policy.
• Assist with reports related to pay, employment dates, and policy compliance.

Recruitment & Onboarding

• Assist with posting job requisitions and tracking applicants in Workday.
• Coordinate reference checks, background checks, and offer letters.
• Ensure proper onboarding procedures are followed per AAP policies and guidelines.

The College of Architecture, Art, and Planning at Cornell University (Cornell AAP) includes the departments of Architecture, Art, City and Regional Planning, the Paul Rubacha Department of Real Estate, jointly led by AAP and the SC Johnson College of Business, the multicollege Department of Design Tech, and the Cornell Mui Ho Center for Cities. The college spans three locations in Ithaca, New York City, and Rome, Italy, each with world-class facilities and cutting-edge technologies.

Cornell AAP is about acts of transformation. We are committed to reimagining and reshaping the world in new ways, every day. A vital college at one of the nation's foremost research universities, Cornell AAP brings faculty, staff, and students together from around the world to take up some of today's most urgent challenges and advance research, inquiry, and collaborative approaches to designing, making, and doing that make a more just and resilient future.

What We Need

• Resume
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office programs (particularly Word, Excel, and Outlook); experience in basic scheduling
• Willingness to work in a collaborative environment
• Experience utilizing time management skills in a fast paced work environment, balancing multiple priorities
• Ability to work independently, with attention to detail, and according to established policies and procedures

Things that are preferred, but not required:

• Experience in Workday, Airtable (or other similar database software), Kuali Financial System (KFS)

Benefits:

• Our benefits programs include comprehensive health care options, generous retirement contributions, access to wellness programs, and employee discounts with local and national retail brands. We invite you to follow this link to get more information about our benefits: Understand Your Benefits | Working at Cornell.
• Our leave provisions include health and personal leave, three weeks of vacation and 13 holidays. Learn more about our generous leave provisions: Holida