Administrative Assistant I

Position Function:

Provide administrative support in and coordinate the administrative function of a large and complex division, department or unit.

Salary Grade:  11

Please see Staff Compensation Structure for salary ranges. 

Department Profile:

Part of the Bagley College of Engineering, the department has approximately 1000 undergraduate and graduate students. The department offers undergraduate programs in Computer Science, Cyber Security and Operations, Software Engineering, and Artificial Intelligence, and jointly administers an undergraduate program in Computer Engineering with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. At the graduate level, the department offers M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Computer Science, and M.S. degrees in Cyber Security and Operations as well as Data Science. The faculty also directs graduate students in Computational Engineering. Certificates in Information Assurance, Cyber Operations, and Computational Biology are also available. In the last fiscal year, research expenditures totaled over 7 million dollars. Research core areas for the department are cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, computational science, visualization and graphics, bioinformatics, parallel and distributed computing, software engineering, human-robot interaction, augmented and virtual reality, and computer science education. Faculty in the department are active in many university research centers, such as the Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems, the Center for Cyber Innovation, the Center for Computational Science, and the Institute for Genomics, Biocomputing & Biotechnology. Mississippi State University, as an R-1 Research University, has been designated as an National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Operations, Cyber Defense Research, and Cyber Defense Education by the National Security Agency.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

1. Performs a wide variety of clerical duties which could be confidential in nature; operates personal computer to perform basic to complex typing assignments to include: enter data, draft, edit, revise, and print letters, tables, reports, and other materials.

2. May greet and direct visitors, when appropriate; resolve routine administrative problems and answer inquiries concerning activities and operations of department/division.

3. May answer telephone, route calls, take messages, and provide general information about the University, the department, and the programs offered within the department.

4. Performs a range of staff and/or operational support activities; may serve as a liaison with other departments on basic administrative and/or operational matters.

5. May establish, maintain, and updates files, databases, records, and/or other documents; develops and maintains data, and performs routine analyses and calculations in the processing of data for recurring internal reports.

6. May sort, screen, and distribute incoming and outgoing mail; drafts or prepares responses to routine inquiries; prepares photocopies and facsimiles and operates a variety of office equipment.

7. May arrange meetings and conferences, schedules interviews and appointments, and perform other duties related to maintaining one or more individual schedules; take meeting minutes; make travel and lodging arrangements using the MSU Concur Travel System, either directly or through travel agencies.

8. May order, stock, and distribute office supplies, and recruiting materials.

9. Performs basic, routine bookkeeping functions, which may involve simple billing and cash receipt activities.

10. Assist with inventory control through self-audits, State of Mississippi Audits, hand-receipt and acquisition management, and inventory disposal.

11. Submit semi-monthly payrolls and manage timesheets of student workers and staff and acquire necessary signatures and approvals.

12. Process electronic leave in Banner for all faculty, staff, and student workers and finalize in Banner before the end of the month.

13. Assist in the reconciliation of the CSE monthly ProCard statements. Assist with semi-annual ProCard audit preparations.

14. Prepare Direct Pays, etc. for reimbursements to faculty, staff, and students.

15. Performs miscellaneous job-related duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications:

Education: High school diploma

Experience: Two (2) years of clerical or office experience directly related to the duties and responsibilities specified.

When a candidat