For nearly a century, the Department of Anthropology has prepared students in sociocultural anthropology, archaeology, biological anthropology, and linguistic anthropology. With 17 faculty members and about 40 graduate students, the department teaches approximately 1800 undergraduate students each year. Anthropology is a field that straddles the humanities, social sciences, and sciences. The department houses a number of archeology and biological anthropology laboratories that play an important role in our teaching and research. The faculty offers a rich array of courses, teaching across geographical, chronological and analytical frameworks. Our faculty and students regularly receive grants and awards for their teaching and research. An extensive program of colloquia, lectures and public events enhances our instructional programs. A lively community of scholars, faculty and students is engaged with research and teaching, connecting with colleagues in the humanities and social sciences throughout the College of Liberal Arts as well as with science and medical departments.
https://cla.umn.edu/anthropology.

Anthropology is seeking a Department Administrator to oversee the day-to-day operations of the Anthropology Department within the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities campus. The Department Administrator will support the Anthropology Chair with strategic planning, financial management curriculum management, collaborating with the lab manager, managing technology inventory, and human resources support.

Job Duties/Responsibilities:

• Strategic Planning and Operational Management (30%) 
  • Serve as Chief of Staff, coordinating all aspects of daily unit operations to include procedure development and implementation, managing administrative staff and resources and fostering a professional, positive, team-oriented environment. 
  • Partner with the Chair to make recommendations for strategic planning and to set immediate and future priorities and achieve the best use of unit resources (i.e., operational budget, human resources, and space) to meet instructional, research and administrative needs. 
  • Work with the Chair to develop external communication strategies, priorities and messages. 
  • Promote the development of new initiatives and realignment of existing programs through oversight and management of processes and systems. 
  • Represent Department in facilities discussions with other Colleges and units in the Humphrey Center, Blegen Hall and Heller Hall. 
  • Build collaborative relationships while serving as the key unit liaison on behalf of Chair, faculty, staff, and students with CLA, other University and outside entities, and professional and community partners. 
  • Collaborate with Lab Manager on major equipment purchases for Anthropology labs, identifying possible funding sources and managing technology inventory. 
  • Coordinate and implement space planning, allocation, and reporting.  
  • Coordinate data collection for responding to internal and external surveys and reviews. 
  • Ensure confidential information is handled appropriately by complying with University data and privacy practices.
• Curriculum Management (25%) 
  • Function as curriculum manager, in conjunction with Chair, Director of Undergraduate Studies (DUS) and Director of Graduate Studies (DGS), by overseeing department and classroom scheduling each semester, staffing, and monitoring of course offerings to align with budgetary parameters, program requirements, and faculty and staff load policies.
  • Using a complex formula of course enrollment, budgetary resources, graduate student obligations, instructor preferences, and staffing resources/course releases and policies, assign all teaching assistants and instructors for the academic year and summer session.  
  • Prepare and update curricular offerings in Coursedog in collaboration with faculty and CLA curricular committees, and update CCS course entry on an annual, semester, and as needed basis. 
  • In collaboration with Lab Manager, determine appropriate course fees for Anthropology courses and field schools in conjunction with other stakeholders; submit course fee requests and ensure appropriate expenditure of course fees. 
• Financial Management (25%) 
  • Advise and collaborate with Chair and accountant on fiscal issues related to funding, budget priorities, long-range fiscal planning, strategic planning, and annual budget. 
  • Responsible for fiscal activities including budgeting, managing expenditures, forecasting, and approving expenditures in compliance with University, College, Department, University Foundation (UMF), the Research and Innovation Office and the Sponsored Projects Administration (SPA).
  • Develop annual Teaching Assistant/Undergraduate Instruction (TA/UI) budget, Temporary Instructional Needs (TINs) request, in conjunction with DUS and DGS.
  • Support faculty with administration and monitoring of grants and other internal and external funding sources, through close communication with the accountant to include providing pre- and post-award sponsored funding assistance.
  • Review bi-weekly payroll abstract for errors and work with CLA Payroll to resolve discrepancies.
  • Coordinate unit development, donor relations, and outreach activities with the collegiate Office of Institutional Advancement, UMF and University Relations including overseeing events that include alumni and donors.
  • Other fiscal support duties as needed to include initiating TDX tickets for finance activities and tracking the status of tickets, helping faculty navigate UMarket and ChromeRiver, and using a University Purchasing Card to make select purchases as required. 
• Human Resources (15%) 
  • Supervise office staff including conducting annual performance reviews, assigning, monitoring and adjusting workloads, approving absence requests and timecards, and disciplining, terminating and settling grievances. 
  • Assist in hiring and developing job descriptions and performance standards for faculty, adjunct/fixed term appointments, staff and undergraduate student worker positions to include coordinating searches, hiring, training, and orienting.
  • Primary unit expert for Chair, faculty and staff on University and College policies and procedures involving promotion and tenure, award dossiers, faculty merit, sabbaticals, single semester leaves, EOAA, FMLA, annual review of probationary faculty, annual report of outside professional activities and business procedures. 
  • Manage tracking of all medical and family leaves and reporting to CLA HR. 
  • Representative to ISSS on visa policy and procedures for faculty and graduate students. 
  • Lead unit contact for civil service, labor represented, P&A, graduate and undergraduate personnel and supporting staff and faculty in policy interpretation. 
  • Advise faculty, staff and graduate students on correct handling of confidential data, University document retention guidelines, and proper disposal of confidential documents.
• Graduate Programs (5%) 
  • Main resource for the Chair, DGS and Graduate Program Coordinator in interpreting and implementing University policies regarding graduate students and developing unit-level policies. 
  • Advise DGS and Chair on managing and administering scholarship/fellowship awards and financial packages offered to incoming graduate students. 
     

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelorâ™s degree plus four (4) years of professional-level experience or a combination of related education and/or relevant professional-level financial and/or administrative experience totaling eight (8) years
• Two (2) years of supervisory experience 
• Experience with two or more of the following: human resources, academic searches, promotion and tenure, curriculum management/course scheduling, graduate programs, or budget planning and financial resources management 
• Prior project management experience 
• Experience managing multiple complex tasks 
• Experience researching, interpreting, and applying policies 

Preferred Qualifications:

• Administrative experience at the University of Minnesota or in higher education setting providing assistance to the Department Chair or Director of an academic department 
• Masterâ™s Degree or advanced training in business, human resources or related field
• Successful candidate must be creative and attentive to business and staff needs, perform at a high level of discretion, integrity, a confidentiality 
• Successful experience with course scheduling, academic searches, and promotion and tenure processes 
• Experience with University of Minnesota Systems (TDX, Reporting Center, CCS, Astra, Coursedog) 
• Administrative experience in human resources and payroll 
• Ability to make sound decisions, set priorities, and work in a fast-paced environment with multiple deadlines and frequent interruptions 
• Proven ability to develop timelines, implement innovative business strategies, identify problems and solutions and conduct systemic process reviews and improvements 
• Experience and/or commitment to working with diverse groups of people 
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to communicate effectively with diverse constituencies 
• Demonstrative ability to take initiative and work independently

About University of Minnesota Twin Cities

The University of Minnesota, founded in the belief that all people are enriched by understanding, is dedicated to the advancement of learning and the search for truth; to the sharing of this knowledge through education for a diverse community; and to the application of this knowledge to benefit the people of the state, the nation, and the world.

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