Faculty and Academic Programs Operations Assistant (Temporary)

Swarthmore College is a highly selective liberal arts college located in the suburbs of Philadelphia, whose mission combines academic rigor with social responsibility. Swarthmore has a strong institutional commitment to inclusive excellence and nondiscrimination in its educational program and employment practices and encourages candidates who will further advance the goal of fostering a diverse and inclusive community. As one of the nation’s finest institutions of higher learning, Swarthmore College is global in outlook and draws students from around the nation and world. The 425‐acre campus is a designated arboretum, complete with gardens, rolling lawns, a creek, wooded hills, and hiking trails in the Crum Woods.

Who We Are:

The Provost and Dean of the Faculty (i.e. Provost) is the chief academic officer of the College, providing administrative leadership, direction, and evaluation for all academic activities and faculty affairs of the college. In addition to overseeing the faculty and academic departments, the Provost provides leadership to administrative entities at the college, including athletics, ITS, the Libraries, the Lang Center for Civic and Social Change, Off-Campus Study and various teaching and learning centers including the Writing Center. She chairs the Council on Educational Policy, and co-chairs the Curriculum Committee, and the Committee for Faculty Procedures. The Provost guides the agenda of the Committee on Promotion and Tenure, providing strategic direction for these governing bodies. The Provost is responsible for all aspects of faculty personnel policy, including appointments, reappointments, tenure and promotion, and provides oversight to all academic budgets. The Provost’s Office is the point of contact for matters of general academic policy and faculty personnel policy, and serves the academic community on behalf of the President when the President is unavailable.

The opportunity:

The Office of the Provost and Dean of the Faculty seeks a 6-month temporary Academic Programs and Faculty Operations Assistant for 25 hours per week. This role joins a strong team of professional staff within the provost’s office who support faculty, two associate deans of the faculty, and the provost and dean of the faculty in executing the academic mission of the College. The person will assist with a wide range of academic programming activities  spearheaded by the associate deans and the provost and related events that support the overall professional development and academic and research life of the faculty. 

The Assistant will oversee the event planning, scheduling, execution, and staffing for academic programs and related faculty events, including but not limited to new chairs orientation, new faculty orientation, writing and research groups, distinguished faculty events, faculty meetings, and faculty lecture and lunch series. In addition, this role will provide administrative and logistical support for the successful execution of academic programs, including scheduling assessment lunches and meetings, and supporting the curriculum committee and assessment committee, and will liaise with the office of the registrar and honors coordinator to successfully execute the honors program and weekend.  In addition, the position will be provided the opportunity to take on additional operational responsibilities critical to the successful functioning of the provost’s office.

This role involves interaction with faculty, staff, students, and senior administrators up to and including the president.  The ideal candidate will have a background in customer service and/or administrative support and will have the ability to balance multiple projects and demands.

Essential Responsibilities

In coordination with the Associate Dean of the Faculty for Academic Programs and Research, and the Associate Dean of the Faculty for Diversity, Recruitment and Rentention executes central academic program activities and special projects, including departmental and program external reviews and assessment activities, faculty lunches and lecture series, calls for research support and other ongoing and new academic initiatives connected to the Office of the Provost, such as the TriCo Philly Program, the Mellon Interdisciplinary Programs, Embedded Study Programs, among others, and provides administrative support for the Academic Assessment Committee and the Curriculum Committee of the faculty.  More specifically:

• Provides administrative support to the associate deans.
• Provides logistical support for the faculty lecture and lunch series; new faculty lunches and ad hoc committee meetings and gatherings.
• Schedules, on behalf of the associate dean of academic programs, the curriculum and assessment committees.
• For external reviews, works with the department chairs & AA/ACs on the schedul