Administrative Coordinator

Duke University:

 

Duke University was created in 1924 through an indenture of trust by James Buchanan Duke. Today, Duke is regarded as one of America’s leading research universities. Located in Durham, North Carolina, Duke is positioned in the heart of the Research Triangle, which is ranked annually as one of the best places in the country to work and live. Duke has more than 15,000 students who study and conduct research in its 10 undergraduate, graduate and professional schools. With about 40,000 employees, Duke is the third largest private employer in North Carolina, and it now has international programs in more than 150 countries.

 

Occupational Summary
Assist department or division head in administration of department’s graduate student program. The DGSA  will assist senior leaders: Director of Graduate Studies (DGS), Associate Chair for Teaching (ACT), Chair and Administrative Director (AD) in administration of programmatic, financial and operating procedures for the Graduate Program of the Department of Physics. This position reports directly to the Administrative Director in support of the Graduate Program and its affiliate units. Maintains effective working relationships for Physics student programs and activities through strategic planning and coordination with countless Duke offices and teams.

 

Work Performed

 

Graduate Program Duties

Interpret departmental policies and procedures, making decisions on specific operating problems and issuing instructions to graduate students in the name of the Chair, ACT, DGS in accordance with departmental precedents and policies.

• Serve as departmental liaison with Chair, ACT, DGS and Graduate Curriculum Committee concerning Graduate School regulations, University policies and procedures, and budgetary preparation and control. Advise Graduate Curriculum Committee on Departmental policies.
• Plan, coordinate, and manage all day-to-day operations of the Graduate Program and admissions process.
• Make operational and programmatic decisions that have a significant impact on the successful achievement of the Graduate Program strategies and objectives; develop, coordinate, and advise graduate students and staff regarding Graduate School and Payroll policy.
• Manage extensive web-based Departmental graduate admissions process; provide administrative support to the Graduate Admissions Committee.
• Plan, coordinate and administer activities of the Graduate Program to include developing and implementing procedures, processes, services and systems; train staff in proper methods and procedures and ensure correctness of work.  Administratively responsible for Teaching Assistant (TA)-Research Assistant (RA) assignments for fall, spring, and summer semesters; work with faculty to facilitate timely TA-RA assignment decisions; work with grant managers to provide faculty with financial reports, past support information, and other information as needed to make TA-RA assignments; follow-up with grant managers after assignments are received from faculty to ensure correctness of work and to facilitate updates to payroll and graduate school online systems.
• Monitor individual graduate student progress and advise students as needed; interpret and communicate departmental, programmatic and institutional policies to graduate students.
• Plan all preliminary, propositional, and Ph.D. defense exams; record academic and personnel data for all graduate students; maintain comprehensive data of all past Physics graduate students.
• Monitor and evaluate Graduate Program effectiveness using qualitative and quantitative research techniques; investigate trends and recommend and implement modifications to improve program effectiveness. Prepares internal and external reports and analyses setting forth progress, adverse trends, and appropriate recommendations and/or conclusions.
• Maintain liaison between graduate students and the DGS; with other programs, offices and departments at Duke to coordinate Graduate Program business and to accomplish program objectives.
• Interface with external organizations as appropriate to ensure cooperative efforts are enhanced and available resources are utilized in all interactions with various related administrative functions including budget, sponsored projects/payroll, bursar, international office, graduate school/admissions and partner graduate and certificate programs.
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