INFO Department Business Manager, CMDI

The College of Communication, Media, Design and Information (CMDI) is at the forefront of the revolution in communication, digital technology, and design. CMDI prides itself on offering students an interdisciplinary education with a focus on innovation and creativity! Our students and faculty from seven departments think across boundaries, innovate around emerging problems and create culture that transcends convention.

Office and Department Management:

• Serves as the point of contact for administrative matters concerning the department. Attends faculty meetings, takes notes and represents the department and the college at committee meetings and task forces.
• Ensures adequate furnishings, equipment and configurations. Coordinates the management of two separate office and lab spaces. Schedules rooms, helps manage the department's multiple coordination calendars.
• Assists faculty, graduate students and visitors in travel arrangements and conference registration.
• Assists with filing reimbursements and submitting receipts and documentation. Using Marketplace, makes equipment and supply purchases in consultation with the department chair.
• Assesses and provides guidance to department leadership on the use of our research lab space to create a sustainable lab infrastructure that supports diverse faculty and graduate student needs and interests over time.

Personnel and Faculty Affairs:

• Serves as primary point of contact for personnel matters and faculty affairs in the department. This position ensures that faculty affairs and personnel actions align with departmental policies and bylaws. Specific responsibilities will include but are not limited to: providing department support for recruitment of new faculty (e.g., coordinating department interview schedules, presentations, and meals, collecting collaborator feedback) and on-boarding of new faculty (e.g., advising the chair on office allocation and lab space), assisting the department chair and respective Primary Unit Evaluation Committee (PUEC) chairs during promotion and tenure / reappointment / post tenure review processes, and supporting the Faculty Affairs committee in the merit review process.
• Assists faculty with hiring of undergraduate and graduate researchers outside of graduate appointments (hourly appointments, NSF REU positions, etc.) Assists with job postings and overage requests for these positions.

Finance:

• Assists the department chair with financial decisions and plays an active role in monitoring of department accounts throughout the year by analyzing past expenditures, reviewing current balances and projecting future expenses.
• Assists department faculty in managing the resources associated with a robust graduate program. Duties include providing guidance related to the deployment of graduate student teaching assistant lines and assisting faculty in resource allocation decisions including planning appropriate combinations of grant-funded research assistantships and department-funded positions for students.
• Uses knowledge of faculty grants (funded, planned, and in-preparation) to help the department project future TA needs as input to graduate admission decisions.
• Assists the chair in allocating grader and other instructional support resources to faculty.
• Reviews department, research and instructional financial transactions and monitors the department speedtypes to ensure funds are used appropriately.
• Liaises with related budget offices including CMDI dean's office, PSC, OCG, SPA, Bursars, etc.
• Provides data-driven budgetary insight to help with department decision-making and advocacy, such as guiding long-term decision making related to the department's academic programs.

Communication:

• Serves as the primary point of communication for the department including acting as the communication liaison between the college and the department. Answers and/or directs questions about the department and college.
• Manages the all department listserv registration making sure that student listservs are updated each term (before and after census dates) and that the faculty and community-facing listservs are updated accordingly.
• Audits department/college website on a regular basis to ensure that the most up to date information is posted.
• Reviews and monitors college social media posts relative to the department to ensure accuracy.

This position will work a Monday-Friday hybrid schedule, with occasional evenings and weekends to support department/college events.

The annual salary range is $65,500- $75,000. Relocation assistance is available according to department guidelines.

• Bachelor's degree and three years of experience in office administrative management.
• Equivalent combination of education and experience may substitute for the degree on a year-for-year basis.

• Demonstrated excellence in written and oral communications, collaboration and problem solving
• Attention to detail and ability to manage multiple tasks effectively.
• Excellent computer skills including competency in the Office 365 suite and a willingness and ability to learn new software and business communication software.
• Knowledge and appreciation of cultural, political and geographical differences with ability to work well with faculty, staff, students and other constituents from various backgrounds.
• Demonstrated track record of communicating effectively and building and maintaining relationships at all levels of organization.

• Five years experience managing department and/or office finances.
• Experience supervising student and/or professional staff.
• Professional experience working in a higher education environment or comparable public/government work experience.
• Working knowledge of Federal, State and University fiscal rules and procedures with regard to state funds, gift funds, travel, property, purchasing, procurement
• Familiarity with university enterprise systems (SalesForce, DARS, Campus Solutions, Singularity, PeopleSoft, Concur, Marketplace, etc.
• Experience working within a regulatory framework.