Position Summary

This position will be cross trained to provide back up support for the Associate Dean of Students for Academics and the Student Support Care Team. Specific responsibilities include front desk welcoming for the Dean of Students Office, communicating effectively and confidentially with a variety of individuals both on and off campus (including parents); maintaining accurate records, coordinating correspondence; and maintaining legal immigration documents for the College's international students.

Responsibilities

Dean of Students Office

• Serve as the front line welcome for the Dean of Students office.
• Provide triage support to students, families, faculty and staff with concerns for students and/or College policies and protocols both in person and via email and phone.
• Interview, selects, schedules and supervises student employees hired for the Dean of Students Office.
• Receives incoming telephone calls and communicates in person and in writing with parents, alumni, administrators, faculty, students, prospective students, vendors and others and provides appropriate information or refers to another individual.
• Word processes and distributes diverse internal and external correspondence.
• Maintains computers kept in the dean of students office for student use.
• Maintains multiple areas of the dean of student's website.

International Student Services

• Serve as the primary assistant to the Director of International Student Services
• Serves as a Designated School Official (DSO) for Hamilton College.
• Maintains the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) by keeping an accurate database of international student data including their visa status, records required by law, and financial aid packages.
• Prepares legal immigration and financial documents for students with F-1 visas, if needed.
• Maintains database of community members involved in the International Friendship program.
• Responds appropriately to student questions concerning documents required for travel outside the U.S., employment authorization and other immigration regulations.
• Organizes and maintains database for incoming first year international students, sharing it with necessary partners on campus.
• Outreach to newly deposited students for citizenship documents in order to process SEVIS materials to generate I-20s. All materials sent are then scanned into OnBase for record keeping.
• Constant communication with students via regular email about important dates, deadlines and programs.
• Responsible for reconciling and submitting expenses for the ISS office, and MP2 program.
• Provides planning and execution support for International Student Orientation and other annual programming.
• Responds appropriately to student questions concerning documents required for travel outside the U.S., employment authorization and other immigration regulations.

Due the ever-evolving nature of the dean of student's office, the staff assistant will be cross-trained to provide backup support to other Dean of Students office staff assistants. In particular, the staff assistant will work with other staff members to support critical administrative tasks of the Academic and Student Support Teams.

Qualifications & Experience

• Bachelor's degree preferred with three or more years' experience in an administrative support role in higher education and/or international student education support role.
• Demonstrated administrative, relevant experience working within a complex office.
• Ability to multi-task in a fast paced, crisis-facing environment.
• Demonstrated commitment and care to work with diverse communities in an academic setting.
• Effective communication skills to address all levels of the College environment including students, families, staff, faculty and administration.
• Demonstrated good judgment and ability to handle confidential/sensitive information with discretion.
• Proficient in Microsoft and Google platforms and able to quickly train on database management systems including SEVIS, OnBase, Colleague, Titanium, WorkDay, Compass, etc.
• Prior experience working in a college/university setting is preferred.

Knowledge, Skills, Abilities

• Experience using multiple hardware and software platforms (MAC and PC) preferred.
• Ability to learn immigration regulations related to non-immigrant student status.
• Ability to understand and accurately communicate office procedure and College policy, coupled with the ability to visualize broader concepts being promoted by the dean of student's office. Strong verbal and written communications skills; strong follow-up skills.
• Demonstrated experience working in teams.
• Inclination and interest in ongoing professional development.