JOB DESCRIPTION AND SELECTION CRITERIA
Academic Support Administrator
Department
Academic Office
Salary
Grade 5 of the University Salary Scale which is currently £24,057 pa to
£28,695 pa, (discretionary to £31,342 pa), depending on skills and
experience.
Hours
36.5 hours a week, normally Monday to Friday, as well as some
occasional weekend work.
Contract type
Permanent following a satisfactory completion of a 6 month
probationary period.
Reporting to
Academic Administrator as the line manager but on a day-to-day basis,
the Deans, Tutor for Undergraduates, Tutor for Graduates and Senior
Tutor.
Contact
College Officers, current students, Fellows and other staff across the
College and collegiate University.
The post holder will be entitled to take a free lunch when on duty and
the kitchen is open.
Holiday entitlement will be 30 days including the College's closed
periods of five days at Christmas, plus bank holidays. Due to
operational requirements, you may be required to work on any of the
bank holidays, for which time off in lieu will be provided.
Additional
information
The Colleges operates a contributory pension scheme (subject to
eligibility).
The College operates a staff bonus scheme and there is opportunity to
join the Colleges’ health care scheme.
This post requires a satisfactory report from the Disclosure and Barring
Service.
Parking is not available; however the College provides a bus pass
scheme.
Start date
As soon as possible
Wadham College
Wadham is one of the largest of the colleges of the University of Oxford, with
approximately 450 undergraduates, 170 postgraduates, around 70 Fellows and over 100
staff. Founded in 1610, Wadham celebrated its 400th anniversary in 2010. It has an
annual turnover of some £10M and reserves in excess of £100M.
Wadham attracts undergraduate and postgraduate students from a wide range of
backgrounds thanks to its informal atmosphere, academic strength, historic environment
and the open-minded, progressive and socially aware attitude of its community.
Updated: Dec 2015
The College’s Governing Body consists of the Warden and Fellows and is chaired by the
Warden. The current Warden is Lord Macdonald QC, who came to Wadham in
September 2012, and is one of the country’s top criminal lawyers and a former Director of
Public Prosecutions.
More information about Wadham College can be found at www.wadham.ox.ac.uk
The Academic Office is responsible for the administration of academic processes in
Wadham, and is overseen by the Academic Administrator and Senior Tutor. It administers
appointment processes for new lecturers, prepares and distributes papers for the College’s
academic committees, oversees admissions and registration procedures for new
undergraduate and graduate students, offers support to Fellows and lecturers, handles
enquiries from students and all aspects of student administration, and manages the
collection and dissemination of academic information to other departments in the College
and University.
The Academic Office has six members of staff:
 Academic Administrator (managing the office and working closely with the Senior
Tutor);
 Admissions and Access Administrator (covering graduate and undergraduate
admissions, access and widening participation work);
 Academic Records Manager (responsible for managing data on students and
academic staff);
 Academic Support Administrator (supporting the Dean, Tutor for Graduates and
Tutor for Undergraduates);
 Academic Office Administrator (supporting student ceremonies and official
documentation requirements);
 Access and Outreach Officer (working with schools and colleges across the country
to broaden access to the College and University).
The Academic Office team provides many crucial services to other offices, tutors and
students. It has a happy history of being a close-knit but hardworking team in a busy
College.
General Overview
The overall objective of the Academic Support Administrator is to ensure the delivery of
high quality academic and pastoral support for the College’s graduate and undergraduate
students, primarily through providing administrative support to the Academic Office,
College Officers (many of whom hold their offices in conjunction with full-time research and
teaching posts at the College), and the Committees they serve. The postholder will be
expected to maintain strict confidentiality at all times and to undertake any job-related
training requested by the College.
The post of Academic Support Administrator is varied and challenging. The postholder
needs to be able to handle many different duties simultaneously, making sure routine
requirements are dealt with accurately and efficiently, whilst also keeping an eye on the
broader picture and possibilities for improvement. The post is an evolving one, combining
provision of ‘core’ services, the need for rapid response to particular situations, and the
development of new initiatives. Some adjustment of the duties of the post may be
applicable as the role develops in due course, and in conjunction with other posts in the
Academic Office team.
Updated: Dec 2015
Responsibilities and duties
The post holder will work closely with the Academic Administrator and with College
Officers to provide high quality support. They would in particular provide the following
Committee and secretarial support:
A. For the Tutor for Undergraduates
1. Committee support, agenda preparation, minuting and working on ‘follow up’ actions
arising from fortnightly meetings of Tutorial Board.
2. Co-ordinating Academic Panels, providing paperwork, minuting and working on
‘follow up’ actions where appropriate.
3. Co-ordinating individual pastoral/academic meetings with undergraduates, providing
paperwork and working on ‘follow up’ actions.
4. With the Academic Administrator, assisting with arrangements for undergraduate
students returning from suspension (including checking re-entry conditions and
arranging Special Collections).
5. Co-ordinating undergraduate scholarships & prizes, including processing
applications/entries and preparing correspondence.
6. Other administrative support as necessary for the Tutor for Undergraduates.
B. For the Tutor for Graduates
1. Committee support, agenda preparation, minuting and working on ‘follow up’ actions
arising from Graduate Provision Committee meetings.
2. Administering the online Graduate Supervision System (GSS) on behalf of the
College, including updating College Adviser arrangements and distributing and filing
supervision reports, flagging up with the Tutor for Graduates as appropriate.
3. Co-ordinating the processing of Graduate Progression Forms.
4. Co-ordinating graduate scholarships & prizes for current students, including
processing applications and preparing correspondence.
5. Assisting with arrangements for advisers’ dinner and other graduate functions
organized by the Tutor for Graduates.
6. Other administrative support as necessary for the Tutor for Graduates.
C. For the Deans
1. Committee support, agenda preparation, minuting and working on ‘follow up’ actions
arising from Welfare and Liaison Committee meetings.
2. Co-ordinating individual disciplinary and pastoral meetings, providing paperwork,
minuting and working on ‘follow up’ actions where appropriate.
3. Assisting in the development and implementation of appropriate Disciplinary and
Welfare procedures and policies.
4. Organising meetings for the Deans with other College Officers, student
representatives and members of College Staff, to ensure constructive and
harmonious relations across different areas of the College Community.
5. Organising Deans’ social functions.
6. Other administrative support as necessary for the Deans and Sub-Deans.
D. For the Academic Office
1. Assisting with the induction of all new students, including liaising with student
representatives regarding the Freshers’ Week programme and production of
Fresher/Registration Packs.
2. Assisting the Academic Records Manager with the maintenance of student records.
Updated: Dec 2015
3. Co-ordinating termly undergraduate collections, including preparing papers,
timetabling, managing invigilators, monitoring attendance and distributing scripts to
examiners in a timely fashion.
4. Processing examination results for all students, including preparing such information
for publication (e.g. in the Wadham ‘Gazette’).
5. Co-ordinating room bookings for tutors and student societies during term time.
6. Updating the College website area as appropriate.
7. Other administrative support as required, including supporting other office staff at
busy times.
SELECTION CRITERIA
Essential
1. Educated to degree level or equivalent
2. Previous experience of an administrative environment or working in a similar role.
3. Good interpersonal skills, including the ability to deal confidently with a wide variety of
people, including tutors, other College staff, students and University administrators,
with an awareness of the sensitivities of dealing with a variety of different
constituencies within a University context.
4. Organizational skills, including the ability to balance demands from different areas, to
prioritise work and manage time.
5. Ability to work in an organized and methodical fashion, with attention to detail and
accuracy.
6. Problem-solving skills, with the ability to exercise judgement and take initiative.
7. Excellent communication skills and command of the English language (oral and
written).
8. IT skills appropriate to a Windows-based office, including Microsoft Office 2007/2010,
the internet and e-mail, and willingness to learn new applications as required.
9. Sound judgement and diplomacy, with an ability to deal tactfully and sympathetically
with student academic, welfare or disciplinary issues.
10. Ability to work calmly under pressure, negotiating multiple tasks, and to meet
deadlines.
11. Ability to work unsupervised and to take initiative.
12. Flexible attitude towards duties and a willingness to work flexibly to meet the
fluctuating demands of the University calendar, including some occasional weekend
work.
13. Discretion and an understanding of the demands of confidentiality.
14. Sympathy with the aims, objectives and values of a Higher Education Institution.
15. To be friendly, honest and reliable
16. To be presentable and maintain dress and department standards
Desirable
1. Experience of report-writing and preparation of policy and procedural documents.
Updated: Dec 2015
2. Experience of servicing committees, including minuting.
3. Relevant knowledge of Oxford Colleges/University system.
4. Have a good working familiarity with the diversity and problems of student life.
APPLICATION PROCESS
Applicants are asked to submit an application form with a covering letter. Candidates are
also asked to name two referees; with the candidate’s permission these would be
contacted after shortlisting decisions have been made. One referee should be the
applicant’s current or most recent line manager or Head of Department.
Applicants should ensure that they outline the reasons for their interest (on the application
form or in a cover letter) and the qualities they feel would make them particularly suitable
for this position. Applications will be judged solely on the basis of how the applicant
demonstrates that they meet the selection criteria outlined above.
The deadline for applications is 12 noon on Monday 11th January 2016. All applicants
will receive a response as soon as possible and interviews are due to be held the week
commencing 25th January 2016.
Wadham College Equality Statement
Subject to statutory provisions, no applicant, student or member of staff will be
discriminated against on the basis of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage or civil
partnership, pregnancy or parenthood, race, religion or belief, sex, or sexual orientation.
Updated: Dec 2015