Administrative Assistant I - Social Sciences, Arts & Humanities Division

The Administrative Assistant, reporting directly to the Dean of Social Sciences, Arts & Humanities, plays a pivotal role in providing comprehensive administrative support to the Division’s administrative staff, Department Chairs, faculty, and students. This position contributes to the Division's daily operations and long-term strategic goals. The ideal candidate will be organized, detail-oriented, and capable of handling a diverse range of administrative tasks.

• Monitors assigned unit activities to ensure effective and secure daily operations and schedules in the Division office, including, but not limited to: maintaining faculty mailboxes; collecting and distributing mail; assisting faculty with use of office equipment; distributing office and computer lab keys; scheduling meetings for Dean/Acting Associate Dean; assisting in orientations of new FT and PT faculty to general college-wide, Division-specific, and contractual protocols; assisting with faculty office assignments; and maintaining adequate office and teaching supplies in the Division office.
• Ability to work effectively with a variety of software platforms to assist Dean/Acting Associate Dean and Department Chairs with decisions about scheduling, staffing, and budgeting, including SoftDocs, Docusign, Coursedog,Questica, and Chrome River. Ability to learn new software platforms adopted by the College.
• Provides daily administrative support as requested for the work of individual Division faculty and staff, as well as for the Dean/Acting Associate Dean.
• Schedules appointments for the Dean/Acting Associate Dean as requested, including classroom observations, meetings with faculty and students, staff meetings, and committee meetings.
• Serves as the first point of contact for HCC’s diverse student population, responding courteously and knowledgeably to questions and requests.
• Collaborates with Facilities, IT, and Student Records to conduct regular review of classroom equipment.
• Works with Department Chairs to submit work orders to resolve maintenance and repair issues in the Donahue Building. Keeps the Division administrative staff and Department Chairs informed of the progress of work orders, from submission to completion.
• Assists faculty and Division administrators in communicating with outside agencies to support unit activities, e.g. community based learning opportunities or accreditation officials’ requests.
• Assists Acting Associate Dean with adjunct staffing by sending official course offers and monitoring responses.
• Assists Dean and Academic Affairs Office with managing all aspects of full-tine faculty searches, including outreach to candidates, scheduling of interviews, and details of on-campus visits for finalists.
• Collects and files for the Dean all forms related to the MCCC contract, including faculty workload computation forms, semester schedules, weekly unit attendance sheets, requests for personal leave, E forms, syllabi, course materials checklists, and schedule preference forms. This duty includes notifying faculty when forms are due and following up as needed to collect late submissions.
• Assists Department Chairs with accessing departmental budgets to submit spending requests, including creating purchase orders and travel requests, working with IT to place orders for computers and software, and monitoring spending throughout the fiscal year. Helps to prepare budget requests for upcoming fiscal year, and assists Division Dean with budget-related data entry.
• Assists Department Chairs and Division Dean/Acting Associate Dean with data entry for faculty workloads and the academic schedule.
• Responds to inquiries from current, past, and prospective students, as well as from staff and faculty, by providing cordial and professional assistance and referrals as needed.
• Assists Department Chairs with all aspects of the program review process, including compiling printed material and data for self-study, facilitating correspondence with outside reviewers, and making travel arrangements as needed. Assists with accreditation materials for any department with external accreditation.
• Manages details of Division meetings, including sending out the call for agenda items, working with Dean/Acting Associate Dean on meeting agenda, assembling and distributing all meeting materials, creating Zoom links as needed, ensuring the presence of an ASL interpreter, taking accurate minutes, and maintaining an electronic file of all Division meeting materials.
• May supervise work study or SAMP students, as needed.
• Works closely with administrative staff in other Divisions to ensure uniform practices and open communication between Divisions.
• Participates in professional development workshops/trainings as requested.
• May represent work area on Division-related or college-wide task forces or committees, including search committees.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Minimum two years of full-time, or equivalent part-time, experience in office management, office administration, business administration or business management (OR) An Associate's or higher degree with a major in business administration, business management or public administration may be substituted for the required experience.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills.
• Flexibility in adapting to new administrative processes.
• Proficiency with basic word-processing and spreadsheet software; ability to learn a variety of current administrative platforms
• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to engage in cordial, respectful, and professional interactions with a diverse range of faculty, staff and students in order to facilitate Division business.
• Ability to multitask and prioritize so as to effectively manage multiple deadline-driven tasks.
• Strong organizational skills with strict attention to detail and accuracy.
• Associates degree in an area related to one or the Division’s academic disciplines.
• Appreciation of and interest in HCC’s student population and college mission.

*A comprehensive list of duties may be found at the Massachusetts Human Resources Division- Classification Specification under the “Administrative Assistant Higher Education Series."

Equivalency Statement:

We welcome and encourage applicants, who do not meet the qualifications as stated below, to put in writing precisely how their background and experience have prepared them for the responsibilities of this position. It is preferred that this document be uploaded separately from the resume, cover letter, and references. Applicants who do not meet the minimum qualifications and do not have an equivalency statement will not be considered for the position.


Preferred Qualifications:

• Associate's degree in related field.
• Experience working in higher education setting.

Full-time, AFSCME unit position

• Biweekly salary: $2,068.95; Grade 15; plus a comprehensive State benefits package.
• Funding Source: State.
• Hours: 37.5 hrs./week.