Administrative Associate 2

Travel and Event Planning Associate

Regular, Non-Exempt, Full-time, Market Range 04, biweekly

The position will be responsible for financial travel reimbursements for departmental employees, students, friends, and visitors; planning and executing departmental and undergraduate program events; monthly time entry; biweekly time reconciliation; terminations of monthly paid employees; and annual parking allocations. Cross-trained with co-workers to improve service to internal and external customers so essential tasks are managed even if the responsible employee is out of the office. Establish and maintain effective working relationships within and outside of Chemistry.

More Specific Responsibilities Include:

• Travel Reimbursement

o Plan faculty, student, and staff travel by making travel and housing reservations, as well as coordinating entertainment and dining arrangements.

o Maintain current knowledge of all department, college, and university travel policies and procedures.

o In collaboration with the Business Office, oversee cost distributions and account charges to ensure travel expenses are billed correctly to the proper cost centers.

o In collaboration with the Business Office verify travel charges are available per rules and policies of specific grants and/or contracts involved.

o Apply graduate student travel awards by properly applying Graduate Student Senate guidelines and procedures.

o Secure university vehicles and monitor use by department employees, students, friends, and visitors.

o This excludes travel for Chem 501 course and Lind Lectures; except in cases where acting as back-up.

o Liaison between Chemistry travelers and the Treasurer’s Office.

• Event Planning, Coordination or Assisting with Events

• Monthly Time Entry and Bi-weekly reconciliation process

o Distribute time sheets to department staff and collect and compile responses for supervisor approval.

o Enter non-working hours into IRIS on behalf of employees, including sick leave, annual leave, FML, etc.

o Reconcile errors and corrections in time by communicating both with employee and supervisors to ensure accurate pay and leave balances.

o Maintains an understanding on policies and procedures regarding all paid leave categories.

o Terminations of monthly paid employees. Keeps track of temporary employee end dates and guides employees through both the termination and online exit processes.

• customer relations representative for the department, along with co-workers.

o In collaboration with co-workers, receive and route phone calls, direct visitors, and address issues in professional and friendly manner to represent department values.

o Manage department parking needs, including distributing and monitoring use of special Orange Dot permits and creating parking requests for employees.

o Order special parking for visitors during department events, ensuring accurate account billing.

o Provide administrative support to the department, including proofreading and editing departmental documents, making facilities requests, reserving rooms and facility building access requests for event use, etc.

Requirements:

• Education: High School Diploma (or equivalent) with 2 years in an administrative position with event planning experience

• Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Demonstrated knowledge of Microsoft Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint

• Strong attention to detail

• Excellent oral and written communication skills

• Ability to work independently, as well as in a team-oriented setting

• Ability to problem solve and make data-based decisions

• Ability to assimilate information from diverse resources in order to make informed decisions

• Ability to accurately enter or modify data or other content types

• Ability to read, interpret, and apply policies and procedures in a work setting

• Excellent customer service skills: managing tasks in a way that is easiest for customers, both internal and external

• Dependable and punctual

• Ability to maintain confidential information

• Ability to work with cross-functional teams and foster an environment of teamwork

Preferred Experience:

• Experience in an educational environment.

• Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Experience with an education-based information system or database such as Oracle, Banner, IRIS, etc.

• Ability to effectively communicate, both verbally and in writing, with diverse audiences

• Knowledge of current University of Tennessee and/or College of Arts and Sciences travel policies and procedures

• Ability to work in a high volume, fast paced environment with quick deadlines

The Department of Chemistry is the oldest PhD granting department at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, offering the University’s first PhD degree in 1947. Our 25 faculty members (and growing) have research interests that span the traditional areas of chemistry and encompass new interdisciplinary fields such as materials chemistry, chemistry of the life sciences, and environmental chemistry. Our graduate PhD and MS programs are also growing and include people from diverse cultures, providing an international business environment.

Salary: The salary for this position is commensurate with experience and other qualifications and is accompanied by a standard University benefits package (see https://hr.tennessee.edu/benefits/). This is a regular, Non-exempt, full-time, market range 04, staff position.

Application Process: Please complete the on-line application for full consideration. Provide within the application file: cover letter, resume, and a list of at least three references (with current e-mail address and phone number/s) as single merged PDF document. One reference should be your current supervisor. A review of all applications will begin immediately and will continue until the position is filled.

Primary Location: Knoxville, TN USA

Organization: Arts and Sciences, Department of Chemistry

Schedule: Regular, Full-time, biweekly

Market Range: 04