Administrative Specialist I

Administrative Specialist I

The Digital Worlds Institute in the College of the Arts (COTA) seeks an Administrative Specialist I to be an integral part of supporting our administrative processes. In this role, you'll report directly to the Institute’s Director and work closely with other Institute leadership and the College’s centralized finance, human resources, and Research Admin teams to ensure seamless administrative support for the institute’s daily operations and long-term objectives.

You'll play a crucial role in assisting the College’s Research Admin team with post-award compliance for the Institute’s sponsored projects, alongside handling financial reporting for all the Institute’s funding sources. Your responsibilities will involve executing administrative duties, setting, and communicating deadlines, and ensuring that workflow processes adhere to regulations while identifying opportunities for process enhancements.

In addition to having a bachelor’s degree, administrative experience at a public research university, and some financial tracking/reporting experience, the ideal candidate for this position will be detail oriented and highly effective in both verbal and written communications with the ability to connect the right people to the right information. If you are good at listening, asking questions, problem solving, helping colleagues feel comfortable navigating complex administrative processes and you employ a proactive and thoughtful approach to the work, we invite you to apply to join our team in the Digital Worlds Institute!

The University of Florida College of the Arts intends to be a transformative community, responding to and generating foundational shifts in the arts and beyond. As business and academic professionals, artists, scholars, advisors, and teachers, we, the staff of the College, embrace the complexity of our evolving human experience and seek to empower our colleagues, students, and faculty to respond to and shape that experience fearlessly through critical thinking, creativity, constructive questioning, and respectful dialogue. We seek a colleague who engages with openness and enthusiasm for the work and the mission of the college. We seek a colleague who possesses skills in designing and facilitating work that advances curiosity, inclusion, open intellectual discourse, and the well-being of all in an environment of complex diversity. We seek a colleague who identifies as a trusted steward of resources, balancing institutional requirements and the demand for innovative solutions.

The University of Florida is an equal opportunity institution dedicated to building a broadly diverse and inclusive faculty, staff, and student body.

Responsibilities:

Financial Responsibilities:

• Serve as the primary point of contact for administrative support on all sponsored project funding.
• Keep the College’s Research Admin team informed about Institute post-award sponsored projects’ activities.
• Assist in allocating expenditures within predefined sponsored projects’ budgets and track externally funded budgets, expenses, timelines, and activities in collaboration with the College’s Research Admin team.
• Provide guidance to the sponsored projects’ principal investigators (PIs) on their sponsored projects’ budgets and allowable expenditures.
• Assist in instructing Institute faculty and staff on completing processes for spending sponsored project funding.
• Coordinate administrative logistics for sponsored project activities, including initiating financial transactions, facilitating sponsored project-funded travel authorizations and expense reports, and managing salary distributions for Institute personnel on sponsored project funding.
• Collaborate with the college finance, human resources, and Research Admin teams to implement distribution changes for Institute personnel.
• Update financial expenditure reports biweekly from various funding sources and assist in processing scholarship payments.
• Initiate or serve as back up for other financial transactions as needed, including participant payments.

Additional Responsibilities:

• Engage in collaborative, creative problem-solving to address administrative issues and lead Institute staff and faculty by example in knowing and following administrative policies and procedures effectively.
• Provide administrative support for Institute search committees.
• Actively participate in staff shared governance, professional development activities, and serve on additional committees as needed.
• Complete academic activity reporting, faculty assignment reports and assist in getting faculty to certify effort reports in a timely manner.
• Contribute to the submission of the annual report to the Board of Governors.

$20.59 - $23.95 per hour (which is $43,000 - $50,000 annual) with a comprehensive and highly competitive leave and benefits package

Bachelor’s degree or an equivalent combination of education and appropriate experience

Preferred Qualifications: Listed in order of importance

• Administrative experience at a public research university.
• Financial tracking and reporting experience.
• Experience in positions that demanded accuracy and attention to detail. Possess and demonstrate strategies for making sure all paperwork is thorough and accurate.
• Evidence of highly effective verbal and written communication skills.
• Experience identifying when information is not clear enough and asking the appropriate questions to elicit the information needed.
• Evidence of comfort and efficacy connecting the right information to the right people to facilitate the work and problem solving.
• Evidence of skill in facilitating administrative work that advances curiosity, inclusion, open discourse, and the well-being of all in an environment of complex diversities.

Application Deadline: In order to be considered, all application documents must be submitted by 11:59pm on June 11^th 2024.

This position is eligible for veteran’s preference. If you are claiming veteran’s preference, please upload a copy of your DD 214 Member Copy 4 with your application for consideration. See our Veteran's Preference Page for more specific information.

Application Process: Applications must be submitted via the University of Florida’s online application system. Online applications must include the following: (1) a detailed letter of application that explains how you match the particular qualifications of this position and how your work and perspective will contribute to and enhance our transformative community; (2) a resume; (3) names and contact information of three professional references.

The Search Committee may request additional materials at a later time.

Inquiries may be sent to:
Justin Marlin
Chair, Administrative Specialist Search
Email: [email protected]

The selected candidate may be required to provide an official transcript to the hiring department upon hire. A transcript will not be considered “official” if a designation of “Issued to Student” is visible. Degrees earned from an educational institution outside of the United States are required to be evaluated by a professional credentialing service provider approved by National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES).

If an accommodation due to a disability is needed to apply for this position, please call +1 (352) 392- 2477or the Florida Relay System at +1 (800) 955-8771 (TDD). Hiring is contingent upon eligibility to work in the US. Searches are conducted in accordance with Florida's Sunshine Law.

DIGITAL WORLDS INSTITUTE: Digital Worlds (DW) is a recognized leader in combining digital arts and design, communications and storytelling, computer science, and emerging technologies. The interdisciplinary field of digital arts and sciences is ideal for students whose intellectual and creative pursuits are not confined to traditional academic disciplines. Through project-based learning and collaboration with diverse interdisciplinary teams, DW prepares students for 21st-century careers in the creative and technology sectors.

THE COLLEGE OF THE ARTS: The mission of the College of the Arts is to be a transformative community, responding to and generating paradigmatic shifts in the arts and beyond. We achieve the university’s mission by training professionals and educating students as artists and scholars, while developing their capacities for critical study, creative practice, and provocation. The College offers baccalaureate, masters, and doctoral degrees. Approximately 1,700 students are pursuing majors in degrees offered by the College of the Arts under the direction of 130 faculty members in its three accredited schools— the School of Art + Art History, the School of Music, and the School of Theatre + Dance, and in the Center for Arts in Medicine, the Digital Worlds Institute, and the Center for Arts, Migration, and Entrepreneurship. In addition, the college comprises the University Galleries, and the University level of the New World School of the Arts in Miami.

The University of Florida: The University of Florida is a comprehensive learning institution built on a land grant foundation, ranked one of the top five best public universities in the nation in U.S. News & World Report. We are The Gator Nation, a diverse community dedicated to excellence in education and research and shaping a better future for Florida, the nation and the world. Our mission is to enable our students to lead and influence the next generation and beyond for economic, cultural and societal benefit. UF is a graduate research institution with more than 50,000 students and membership in the prestigious Association of American Universities. Gainesville, which is consistently ranked as one of the nation’s most livable cities, is located midway between the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. Together, the University and the community comprise the educational, medical and cultural center of North Central Florida, with outstanding resources such as the University of Florida Performing Arts (Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, the Squitieri Studio Theatre, the Baughman Center, University Auditorium), the Harn Museum of Art, the Florida Museum of Natural History and in the community, the Hippodrome State Theatre and Dance Alive National Ballet.

In addition to salary, the University of Florida (UF) offers low cost State Health plans, a number of Dental plans to fit you and your family’s needs, and Vision. Domestic partner coverage through GatorCare is also available. Optional plans such as life, disability, legal and accident insurance are also available.

UF provides a variety of leave programs including vacation, sick leave, 11 paid holidays, personal leave days, and family medical leave. TEAMS employees accrue approximately 22 vacation days annually, 13 sick days annually, and 4 personal leave days, typically used during the holiday closing period (accruals based on full-time employment). UF also provides you the flexibility to deal with life’s challenges by offering paid family leave, eight full weeks of leave over a 24-month period.

Build a retirement roadmap with competitive pension plans, investment accounts and a host of voluntary add-ons, such as 457 deferred compensation and 403(b) plans.

UF Employees are also eligible for the GatorPerks discount program, which provides big savings at various business and retailers!

Explore UF’s plethora of benefit options here: TEAMS Benefits