Administrative Associate
Position Overview
The Administrative Associate position involves general assistance with the day-to-day needs and functioning of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Engineering Research Center (ERC) – Environmentally Applied Refrigerant Technology Hub (EARTH) for faculty, staff, and students. The position reports to the ERC Earth Administrative Director. The Administrative Associate must have strong communication, organization, and computer skills. Duties for the position cover a wide range of responsibilities including, but not limited to, serving as the main EARTH receptionist, managing director and EARTH faculty scheduling, managing conference rooms, assisting with faculty and guest travel, creating itineraries for visiting scholars, taking meeting minutes, managing office (and some lab) supplies, assisting with ordering supplies and materials, EARTH on-boarding/off-boarding, updating directories and contact lists, scheduling EARTH meetings and safety meetings, organizing special projects (e.g., organizing EARTH site visits, candidate interviews). This position is located at the University of Kansas – Lawrence campus, and is an in-person position.
About Engineering Research Center:
Heating, ventilation, air-conditioning, and refrigeration (HVACR) are essential to the quality of life for all humans. HVACR systems are widespread throughout society, enabling transportation and preservation of fresh foods, storage of medicines, and cooling of buildings. However, most refrigerants used today are hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), which have high global-warming potential (GWP), with 2000-4000 times the impact of CO2. Combined with high leak rates (direct effect — 50-90% of refrigerants leak into the atmosphere) and high energy consumption (indirect effect — 20-40% of U.S. residential and commercial building electricity usage comes from HVACR), HFCs account for 7.8% of total greenhouse-gas emissions.
To address this challenge, a new NSF Engineering Research Center (ERC): Environmentally Applied Refrigerant Technology Hub (EARTH) will create a “sustainable refrigerant lifecycle” to address technical, environmental, and societal challenges facing the HVACR industry. EARTH is a multi-institution, multi-disciplinary team from the University of Kansas, University of Notre Dame, University of Hawai'i, University of Maryland, University of South Dakota, and Lehigh University.
About Engineering Research Center:
Heating, ventilation, air-conditioning, and refrigeration (HVACR) are essential to the quality of life for all humans. HVACR systems are widespread throughout society, enabling transportation and preservation of fresh foods, storage of medicines, and cooling of buildings. However, most refrigerants used today are hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), which have high global-warming potential (GWP), with 2000-4000 times the impact of CO2. Combined with high leak rates (direct effect — 50-90% of refrigerants leak into the atmosphere) and high energy consumption (indirect effect — 20-40% of U.S. residential and commercial building electricity usage comes from HVACR), HFCs account for 7.8% of total greenhouse-gas emissions.
To address this challenge, a new NSF Engineering Research Center (ERC): Environmentally Applied Refrigerant Technology Hub (EARTH) will create a “sustainable refrigerant lifecycle” to address technical, environmental, and societal challenges facing the HVACR industry. EARTH is a multi-institution, multi-disciplinary team from the University of Kansas, University of Notre Dame, University of Hawai'i, University of Maryland, University of South Dakota, and Lehigh University.
Job Description
45% Office Support and Scheduling
25% Director and Faculty Support
25% Communication & Event Planning
5% Other
- Serve as the main EARTH receptionist
- Assist with walk-in requests, phone calls, and emails
- Assist with scanning, copying, and faxing
- Assist with travel coordination for faculty, staff, students, and guests
- Assist with EARTH purchase of office supplies, event catering, and other ordering
- Help manage departmental resources, office space inventory, maintain visual monitors including electronic student resources, and EARTH displays
- Serve as a point of contact for some internal offices including IT and facilities
- Assist in management of the scheduling of EARTH meetings and events including site visits and board meetings
- Collect and distribute incoming and outgoing mail, packages, and create shipping labels.
- Maintain staff/faculty directories and contact lists
25% Director and Faculty Support
- Respond to general director/faculty requests
- Assisting in the coordination of EARTH meetings, including scheduling, planning and distributing agenda items and recording meeting minutes where necessary
- Support the Administrative Director with accounting and HR tasks, in collaboration with Shared Service Center staff, including support for KU Endowment processes
- Assist in support for staff/student/post-doctoral researcher/research professor searches: coordinate interview schedules and payments through SSC for job candidate reimbursements; post ads to publications & related advertising websites; coordinate and create itineraries for campus visits for post-doc/research professor searches
- Support for annual evaluations and student awards.
- Distribute information to EARTH faculty, staff, graduate students, undergraduate researchers via email
- Assist with record keeping
25% Communication & Event Planning
- Work with Knowledge Warehouse Curator to coordinate and develop content for EARTH newsletters and communications.
- Update email and mailing lists for announcements
- Assist in planning and coordination of events such as biannual site visits, room reservations, itinerary planning, presenter logistics, and scheduling, RSVPs
- Attend events to provide support, including pre- and post-event support
- Prepare communications for donors
5% Other
- As specified by the Administrative Director, based on need
Position Requirements
- This position works primarily on-site but limited remote work may be considered per mutual agreement between the EARTH Administrative Director and selected candidate.
Required Qualifications
- High School diploma or GED equivalency and five years of related experience or Bachelor’s degree with two years of office experience (such as account manager, skilled clerical, accounting, auditing, and/or administrative support work).
- Experience with basic office computer systems to include experience with MS Word, PowerPoint and Excel, as evidenced in application materials.
- Strong written communication skills as evidenced by application materials.
Preferred Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration
- Higher education administrative support experience, as demonstrated by application materials.
- Previous experience with university online student records system and knowledge of university academic policies and procedures, as evidenced in application materials.
- Skilled in MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Adobe, and web based applications (e.g., WordPress), as demonstrated in application materials.
- Work experience that required time management skills and the ability to prioritize workflow.
Additional Candidate Instructions
A complete application consists of cover letter, resume, and list of three professional references. Incomplete applications will not be accepted.
Application review begins October 14, 2024. To ensure consideration, please apply before review date.
Application review begins October 14, 2024. To ensure consideration, please apply before review date.
Contact Information to Applicants
Heather Abernathy
habernathy@ku.edu
785-864-4512
habernathy@ku.edu
785-864-4512
Advertised Salary Range
$40,000-$51,000
Work Schedule
M-F 8-5
Application Review Begins
Monday October 14, 2024
Anticipated Start Date
Monday November 4, 2024