Administrative Specialist - Food Science & Technology

Administrative Specialist - Food Science & Technology Position Summary: The Department of Food Science and Technology needs an assistant to the Department Head. The role supports day‑to‑day administration, faculty affairs, and departmental correspondence. Qualifications Required: High school diploma or equivalent and at least 2 years of related experience. Preferred: Experience in a university or higher‑education environment; knowledge of UGA policies and procedures. Responsibilities Handle all departmental correspondence with upper administration, food industry, and alumni. Manage the main office, including course loading, overrides, curriculum/CAPA, course evaluations, and personnel record keeping. Provide support for faculty correspondence, event scheduling, and communication with internal and external stakeholders. Assist with faculty appointments, graduate faculty appointments and re‑appointments, promotion/tenure, reviews, and interview scheduling. Submit position requests, posting requests, and hiring proposals for staff, graduate research assistants, postdocs, and temporary positions. Assist with onboarding and serve as Postdoctoral Research Liaison. Coordinate with the FST Business Manager to ensure accurate summer pay and MFT compensations. Assign departmental keys, oversee mailbox assignments, receives mail and packages, prepare work orders, and provide copying services. Ensure required documentation is accurate and compliant prior to submission through UGAJobs and HR systems. Identify and resolve routine discrepancies in HR or operational transactions; escalating non‑routine issues. Coordinate logistics of new hires and retirements, including processing actions in UGAJobs and tracking faculty votes. Process graduate faculty appointments and re‑appointments, support search committees, and assist new faculty with onboarding. Track committee assignments, mentoring committees, promotion and tenure processes, and post‑tenure reviews. Lead Visa/H‑IB and permanent residency processes. Schedule and plan faculty meetings on each campus, statewide, and online. Schedule annual faculty and staff reviews and manage documentation. Assist Department Head with HATCH project assignments and reporting. Support timely annual faculty contract processes, including letters of renewal/non‑renewal. Act as departmental liaison to the college and university as needed. Takes and distributes meeting notes and coordinates responses to departmental email. Disseminate accurate and timely information on departmental, college, and university policies and deadlines. Maintain confidentiality of personnel and departmental records. Additional related duties as assigned. Knowledge, Skills, Abilities and Competencies Detailed knowledge of UGA operations and department policies. Effective communication with departmental faculty, staff, and students. Thorough knowledge of administrative management practices. Knowledge of budgetary policies and procedures. Ability to process information using various university procedures. EEO Statement: The University of Georgia is an Equal Opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration without regard to age, color, disability, genetic information, national origin, race, religion, sex, or veteran status or other protected status. #J-18808-Ljbffr University of Georgia