Job no: 511591
Work type: Staff Full Time
Location: UMass Amherst
Department: Art
Union: PSU
Categories: Human Resources, Accounting/Finance/Budget, Administrative/Office Support, Program Administration/Management, College of Humanities & Fine Arts

About UMass Amherst

UMass Amherst, the Commonwealth's flagship campus, is a nationally ranked public research university offering a full range of undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees. The University sits on nearly 1,450-acres in the scenic Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts, and offers a rich cultural environment in a bucolic setting close to major urban centers. In addition, the University is part of the Five Colleges (including Amherst College, Hampshire College, Mount Holyoke College, and Smith College), which adds to the intellectual energy of the region.

Job Summary

The Department Administrator partners with the Department Chair in the overall and daily management of the department of Art. Areas of responsibility include staff supervision, facilities oversight, curricular management, budgetary oversight, strategic planning, and communications (both internal and external).

Essential Functions

• Manage daily operations of the Art department by:
  • Providing leadership in the day-to-day administrative and operational functions of the department.
  • Developing and implementing various administrative procedures to ensure efficiency and that the goals of the department are met.
  • Acting as the Chair’s liaison with faculty, staff, students, alumni, parents, and other interested parties.
  • Hiring, supervising, and evaluating departmental non-exempt staff, technical staff, and student employees. Monitoring the need for and providing for the necessary training and professional development for staff and students.
  • Proactively addressing issues related to supporting a positive work environment for staff, such as workload and relationships with faculty and students. Modifying departmental office procedures and redistributing responsibilities as needed.
  • Providing consultative and administrative support to the Department Chair, including assisting with complex problem-solving, providing reports, data requests, coordinating departmental, college, and university policies and procedures, coordinating special events, conferences, meetings, and lectures, and responding to a broad range of inquiries.
  • Developing and coordinating alumni and outreach activities, including establishing various contact mediums.
  • Overseeing departmental space allocation, including the planning, renovating, and maintaining public, office, lab, and studio space for faculty, students, and staff. Assessing department needs and generating requests for additional space allocations or renovations as appropriate.

• Manage departmental finances by:
  • Collaborating with the department chair on budgetary planning.
  • Authorizing financial transactions, consulting on equipment purchases, and monitoring and controlling annual budgets. Supervising graduate assistantship budgets and scholarship funds in consultation with department bookkeeper.
  • Having signature delegation authority from the department chair on operations funds, key requests, work orders, and telecommunications services.

• Manage departmental personnel actions by:
  • Coordinating faculty searches, including implementing advertising strategy, preparing final recommendation documentation, and maintaining search records.
  • Coordinating with the department chair, Department Personnel Committee, and the HFA chief personnel officer on the preparation of all faculty tenure, 4.2, and PMYR cases, annual faculty reports, sabbatical leave requests and reports, leave requests, and course buyouts.
  • Managing the appointment and reappointment process for faculty and graduate assistants.

• Manage departmental curriculum, enrollment, and course schedule by:
  • Serving as enrollment manager, scheduling a well-rounded undergraduate and graduate course curriculum each semester that will accommodate faculty course requests with respect to student academic interest and departmental needs.
  • Providing the department chair with enrollment data for future needs and trends, and developing procedures and policies for course registration.
  • Serving as liaison in the course proposal and course change process.

• Manage departmental accreditation by:
  • Tracking and notifying department chair of mandatory actions.
  • Overseeing annual NASAD review.
  • Requesting pertinent data from and coordinating reports with the Office of Institutional Research.

Other Functions

Perform other departmental duties as needed (the duties regularly include responding to building emergencies, as well as arranging for coverage of essential services when normal personnel are unavailable).

Minimum Qualifications (Knowledge, Skills, Abilities, Education, Experience, Certifications, Licensure)

• Associate's degree and seven years of administrative operations, human resources, or financial management experience. A Bachelor's degree may be substituted for two years of the required experience.
• Previous supervisory experience.
• Ability to interpret and implement complex policies with diverse constituencies.
• High level of interpersonal/communication skills with the ability to interact effectively and cooperatively with a diverse group of people, including faculty, staff, students, alumni, senior administration, and outside parties (vendors, parents, universities and colleges, etc.).
• Excellent writing and editing skills.
• Strong managerial, leadership, negotiation, and project management skills. Ability to manage crisis situations effectively and to motivate and lead a team to facilitate collaborative projects.
• Ability to develop and manage long- and short-range budgets and planning projects.
• Ability to work independently and in a complex environment with a high degree of assertiveness and initiative.
• Ability to make sound and mature decisions and to carry out assignments in an organized and timely manner, balancing the demands of concurrent and potentially competing projects.
• Extensive computer knowledge and experience in administrative computer systems, as well as internet, email, spreadsheet, word processing, and database software.

Preferred Qualifications (Knowledge, Skills, Abilities, Education, Experience, Certifications, Licensure)

• Experience working in a higher education environment.
• Experience with PeopleSoft financials and human resources.

Physical Demands/Working Conditions

Typical office environment.

Additional Details

Reports directly to the Department Chair but is expected to exercise considerable autonomy and independence in carrying out duties with minimal supervision.

Work Schedule

37.5 hours/week; Monday - Friday 8:30 am - 5:00pm.

Salary Information

Level 26

PSU Salary Ranges

Special Instructions to Applicants

Along with your application, please submit a resume, cover letter, and contact information for three professional references to ensure consideration. The position may remain open until filled.

On-campus applicants are defined as Amherst campus non-student employees.

UMass Amherst is committed to a policy of equal opportunity without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, age, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, disability, military status, or genetic information in employment, admission to and participation in academic programs, activities, and services, and the selection of vendors who provide services or products to the University. To fulfill that policy, UMass Amherst is further committed to a program of affirmative action to eliminate or mitigate artificial barriers and to increase opportunities for the recruitment and advancement of qualified minorities, women, persons with disabilities, and covered veterans. It is the policy of the UMass Amherst to comply with the applicable federal and state statutes, rules, and regulations concerning equal opportunity and affirmative action.

Advertised: Jan 12 2022 Eastern Standard Time
Applications close: