Temporary Administrative Assistant

Please note that references provided at the time of application for staff positions will not be contacted until the applicant has been offered the position.

Description

The Temporary Administrative Assistant provides administrative support to the Residential Education Program. This role ensures smooth office operations, supports departmental leadership, and facilitates essential functions related to student living on campus.

The position demands a collaborative, detail-oriented professional capable of managing complex tasks and providing quality student services in a dynamic environment. Responsibilities include office management, budget coordination, system oversight, maintaining of confidential records, student account administration, providing supervision of student staff, and direct support Berea’s Great Commitment to residentiality.

Following long-standing tradition and practice at Berea College, this position includes responsibility for supervising, mentoring, and developing students in the College's integrated Work College Program. This supports student learning, career readiness, and the program's learning goals and outcomes. The Work College Program provides a developmental framework that guides student learning while creating a structured mentorship opportunity, with role-specific training that equips faculty and staff mentors to support student development. Faculty and staff mentors play an essential part in helping students connect their work-learning-service experiences with broader academic, professional, and personal development. For faculty, this aligns with Berea's tenure and promotion criteria.

Your Key Responsibilities

Administrative Support & Office Management

• Provide comprehensive administrative support to the Residential Education program, including managing calendars, arranging appointments, and overseeing daily office operations to ensure functionality and efficiency.
• Maintain accurate records by preparing, filing, and retrieving documents while ensuring the office is well-supported and organized.
  
  

Communication & Coordination

• Serve as the liaison with the campus community, managing departmental correspondence. Respond to emails, phone calls, and mail to address inquiries and provide accurate information about residential living, campus programs, and student services.
• Coordinate communication regarding student housing processes, including roommate matching, room selection, and community applications.
  
  

Leadership and Supervision

• Support and train labor students within the Residential Education offices, in collaboration with the Director of Residential Education.
• Oversee student staff to ensure excellence in customer service and administrative support.
  
  

Event and meeting Support

• Arrange departmental events, meetings, and trainings, including scheduling, room reservation, catering, and agenda preparation.
• Attend meetings as requested, recording and distributing minutes.
  
  

System Integration and Oversight

• Support the integration, maintenance, and optimization of department systems (eg Berea Engage, Argos, StarRez, Maxient, Smartsheets, and Banner).
• Act as an office-based consultant, collaborating with Berea College Information Technology to train staff on new technologies, ensure technology is functioning, and roll out any upgrades.
  
  

Budget and Financial Support

• Prepare financial documents, including budgets, purchase orders, and check requests. Reconcile departmental budgets in coordination with supervision.
• Support the housing and meals billing process and reconcile student accounts.
  
  

Residential Education-Specific Administrative Support

• Facilitate processes such as background checks, elective meal plan enrollment, and related Residential Education functions
• Provide data and reports to support Residential Education program development and assessment.
  
  

Adaptability & Collaboration

• Demonstrate flexibility and willingness to take on additional responsibilities as needed to support the Residential Education program.
  
  

What You'll Bring

Education required to ensure success in this position:

• High school diploma, required.
  
  

Experience required to ensure success in this position:

• 1 – 2 years’ experience office management
• Experience in administrative support, required.
• Experience in higher education or Student Affairs is preferred
  
  

Special skills, knowledge and abilities:

• Strong organizational and project management skills
• Excellent written and verbal communication abilities.
• Proficiency in computer systems and software including, Banner, Argos, StarRez, DocuSign (preferred)
• Knowledge of basic bookkeeping and accounting procedures.
• Ability to manage confidential information with discretion.
• Strong interpersonal skills for effective collaboration across departments.
  
  

License, certification, or registration necessary:

• None
  
  

Physical requirements:

• Ability to navigate campus/public buildings and grounds
• Ability to occasionally life up to 20 lbs.
• Ability to sit for long periods of time with computer usage
  
  

Environmental conditions:

• Professional office environment with interruptions and noise due to frequent visitors, students, staff and faculty.
  
  

Ability to operate the following vehicles or equipment:

• Standard office equipment, such as computer, phone, fax machine, copier, printer.
  
  

Founded in 1855, Berea College is nationally recognized as the first coeducational and interracial college in the South. Berea has a longstanding commitment to interracial education and is one of the most racially diverse private liberal arts colleges in the United States. With an emphasis on service to Appalachia and beyond, Berea enrolls more than 1,500 students from 44 states and U.S. territories and more than 60 countries. Berea College admits students who are unable to afford tuition and provides every enrolled student with a fully funded degree that covers 100% of tuition, housing, food, supplies, and fees without loans, for all four years. Berea’s students excel in the College’s supportive yet demanding academic environment, and most are the first in their families to attend college. As one of only 10 federally recognized Work Colleges, all Berea students work 10-12 hours weekly in various positions across campus, building professional skills in a real-world learning environment. Washington Monthly ranked Berea College the #1 Best College for your Tuition and Tax Dollars, 2025. Berea also ranks #1 in educational access by The New York Times, 2023 and #1 for lowest educational debt by U.S. News and World Report, 2025 and 2026. Berea College is also the only institution in Kentucky to receive the 5-Star Rating from Money Magazine, 2026.

Located where the Bluegrass Region meets the Cumberland Mountains, the town of Berea (pop. 17,000) lies 40 miles south of Lexington and is approximately two hours from Cincinnati, Louisville, and Knoxville. More information about Berea College is available at www.berea.edu.

Berea College, in light of its mission in the tradition of impartial love and social equality, welcomes all people of the earth to learn and work here.

This position is not eligible for benefits, however, Berea College still offers unique position opportunities you can read more about below.

Our Unique Culture

Berea College strives to be a place where people with various Christian interpretations, different religious traditions, and no religious traditions work together in support of Berea's Great Commitments.

Over the past century, various leaders of the College have applied the College’s inclusive scriptural foundation and spirit to their expanding world and welcomed those whose beliefs were consistent with the Christian gospel of impartial love. Therefore, Berea College today affirms its inclusive Christian tradition even as it respects the traditions of Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, and Hindus, as well as other faiths, and those holding no religious beliefs. We strive not to ignore our differences, but rather seek to understand each other honestly and respectfully, and together create a climate where anyone can openly discuss what they believe without fear of sanction. To that end, all persons who are willing to share in the spirit and the work of the Great Commitments as shaped by its preamble are welcome to study, to teach, and to work at Berea

Labor Supervision

In support of Berea College’s great commitments, staff and faculty serve as labor supervisors. Our fourth great commitment, The Dignity of Labor, promotes learning and serving in community through the student Labor Program, honoring the dignity and utility of all work, mental and manual, and taking pride in work well done. Student Labor Supervision includes scheduling, assigning, and approving student work, developing students' workplace acumen, and providing tangible work experience. To learn more about the labor program office please see the following link Labor Program Office.