Job Description

You will be part of the academic’s support team working as part of the students support Service. To provide consistent, accurate and comprehensive administrative support and advice on matters relating to student support. The team also provide administrative support for a more holistic approach to improving the student experience.

The Program Administrators work closely with the academic team to provide robust support to students during their time at GBS. A key role for the Programme Administrator is directing students to appropriate sources of specialist guidance and support; Student Welfare Service, Careers etc., as well as to relevant policies and procedures.

This is a key role in the School in delivering an outstanding experience for student’s signposting students who, for various reasons, are not following the expected trajectory with their studies. The Programme Administrator will often be the first port of call for students who don’t know where to go, so they play a pivotal role in creating a welcoming environment.

Main Responsibilities

The responsibilities below are indicative, the exact tasks allocation will vary and smaller tasks may be allocated to one or two of the team. In addition, GBS review of student support may impact the Programme Administrator remit. Your role may change and/or develop depending on the needs of the business.

• The Programme Administrator will answer queries from students face-to-face, by email and by telephone. In providing signposting to other specialist services, responsible for ensuring a high level of customer service in particular, ensuring support is both effective and timely. Also, work directly with academic staff, in particular, the lectures, Personal Tutors, and will be a key point of contact for advice about academic related matters (degree programme transfers, choosing an elective course), regulations and procedures (special circumstances policy, interrupting studies).
• In all interactions with students and with colleagues the Programme Administrator is required to maintain an up to date working knowledge of key academic assessment regulations and related policies and procedures. The Programme Administrator will have to judge whether they can resolve a matter or if it needs to be referred to the student’s Personal Tutor / Supervisor, the Senior Tutor, their line manager, or another senior colleague. Programme Administrator works relatively independently and is responsible for initial analysis of cases; typically for more complex or unusual cases, the Programme Administrator will present their proposed course of action for further discussion with senior colleagues. In many cases, part of the Programme Administrator role is to determine whether additional support is needed.
• The Programme Administrator will manage administrative tasks including maintenance of records and student files, often working closely with colleagues e.g. programme managers and Personal Tutors / Supervisors. Other administration includes coordinating degree transfer applications, interruptions of study, and withdrawals, as well as liaising with the new Extensions and Special Circumstances team to facilitate the timely processing of these applications. At the start of the academic year, the SSO will work with the Personal Tutors / Supervisors to ensure the student’s attendance is confirmed. They may also be tasked with supporting Personal Tutors and Course and Programme Administrators to ensure the students have registered their course choices for optional/elective courses.
• As Programme Administrator can deal with students facing difficulties causing disruption to their studies, this often requires a high degree of tact and confidentiality in all contact with staff and students and in the maintenance of records.
• The Programme Administrator will work closely with the students (and relevant academic staff) to facilitate the completion of Special Circumstances applications where required; primarily outlining the Special Circumstances policy and ensuring applications have all the necessary supporting paperwork.
• As part of a small team of Programme administrators you will on occasion be required deputies for the line manager, this will typically take a lead in the management and delivery of activities such as the promotion of student surveys; peer support; induction or the Programme Administrator contribution to Personal Tutor/staff development sessions. At times you may be required to stand in for the line manager at meetings/events or handle urgent complex or unusual cases (new or ongoing).
• When students have particular requirements, the Programme Administrator will work with the Student Disability Service to ensure their needs are met. This is primarily an administrative responsibility to ensure all relevant staff are aware of requirements. The Programme Administrator will acquire specialist knowledge in order to be able to give informed guidance to colleagues in similar cases e.g. outlining what was done in previous cases.
• At key points in the year, the Programme Administrator will work with admin and academic staff to arrange and participate in student events. This may include conceiving of and organizing small-scale promotional events around student surveys or ongoing student experience projects.
• There may be duties not listed about that the Programme Administrator will have to carry out as requested by the line manager or Academic team.

Planning and Organizing

• The Programme Administrator will plan their work in relation to the structure of the academic year. Programme Administrator is responsible for planning their workload to ensure the quality of service and student experience is not diminished at peak times. It should be noted that annual leave will be unlikely to be approved at busy times.
• Working to the academic year schedule the Programme Administrator will work with a high degree of autonomy to manage and plan their work on a daily/weekly/monthly basis. A key challenge is actively managing work in preparation for peak times.
• Some project work e.g. induction, roll out of peer support, will require longer term planning; this is normally done with input from the line manager.

Problem Solving

The common issues for the Programme Administrator to resolve include deciding on whether to escalate an issue to senior colleagues or welfare team; identifying barriers in curricular matters which prevent students from progressing to the next stage of their studies or transferring to a new programme and drafting proposed solutions for senior colleagues to consider; ensuring advice given is comprehensive and accurate often drawing on experience to prevent knock-on or related problems; dealing confidentially and sympathetically with sometimes distressed students and ensuring they are directed to appropriate specialist support.

Work remotely:

• No

Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

Bachelor’s degree and typically 5 years of administrative experience in a busy environment, ideally in Higher Education. A strongly developed sense of service delivery and customer/student focused approach. Strong interpersonal skills – active listening, excellent written and verbal communication. Strong administrative skills with proficiency in MS Office applications such as Excel, Word, Outlook Mail. Good attention to detail. Ability to work well as part of a team. Ability to work under pressure and to deadlines. The post holder must be flexible, approachable and helpful with a strong customer service ethic. The post holder will use initiative and judgment to resolve matters. Ability to handle sensitive and personal information with tact and confidentiality. Ability to maintain working relationships and appropriate boundaries, typically required when referring students to appropriate support.