Administrative Assistant

Administrative Assistant

The Department of Housing & Residence Life is accepting applications for its Administrative Assistant position. The Administrative Assistant provides comprehensive administrative, operational, and logistical support to Housing & Residence Life with direct support to the Executive Director and departmental leadership team. This position is responsible for managing central office operations, coordinating departmental communications, supporting financial and purchasing processes, maintaining records and systems, and ensuring efficient daily operations of a high-volume residential life office.

The Administrative Assistant serves as a critical front-line representative of the department, providing exceptional customer service to students, parents, staff, faculty, and external partners. The position supports large-scale departmental operations including move-in, move-out, recruitment events, and recognition programs, while also maintaining administrative systems, compliance documentation, and communication workflows that ensure departmental effectiveness and continuity. This role requires strong organizational skills, attention to detail, professionalism, discretion, and the ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced higher education environment.

Examples of Duties

Office Management and Administrative Operations

• Responsible for daily operations of the Housing & Residence Life central office.
• Provide logistical, administrative, and purchasing support for large departmental events, including move-in, move-out, opening, closing, and recognition events.
• Document central office procedures, workflows, and operational protocols; assist with training new staff on established procedures.
• Create agendas for departmental and leadership meetings and maintain accurate meeting minutes as requested.
• Manage departmental storage rooms, shared resources, office supplies, and equipment inventory.
• Oversee inventory management processes, including purchasing, tracking, organization, and reconciliation of supplies and equipment.
• Research, price, and purchase departmental supplies, materials, and equipment in accordance with university purchasing policies.
• Manage departmental vehicles, including key check-out, eligibility verification, usage tracking, and coordination of routine maintenance.
• Serve as liaison to JSU Public Safety regarding parking expectations and compliance for new staff and departmental visitors.
• Draft and distribute departmental newsletters and internal communications.

Systems, Data, and Communication Management

• Maintain departmental registration records and rosters with regional and national housing and student affairs associations.
• Manage departmental communication channels including Google Chat, Microsoft Teams and other internal communication platforms.
• Provide front-line customer service to students, parents, faculty, staff, guests, and external partners in person, by phone, and via written communication.
• Utilize institutional systems such as StarRez and Banner to retrieve student information and document interactions appropriately.
• Maintain and manage the departmental central email account, including responding to inquiries, sorting correspondence, and routing issues to appropriate staff.
• Assist in maintaining accurate records and communication logs for departmental operations.

Operational Support, Scheduling, and Space Management

• Assist with management of move-in appointment scheduling for approximately 3,000 residential students.
• Oversee space utilization requests through the Event Management System (EMS) for Housing & Residence Life facilities.
• Review and approve space requests in alignment with departmental and campus policies and procedures.
• Support campus recruitment efforts by coordinating departmental participation in admissions visit days. Manage residential showrooms and assist with guided tours for prospective students and new employees in collaboration with Human Resources.
• Support logistics for campus events hosted within residential facilities.

Safety, Compliance, and Records Management

• Maintain departmental rosters, call trees, on-call schedules, and organizational charts.
• Maintain accurate records of emergency temporary housing and room utilization.
• Coordinate with campus partners to schedule, document, and track required fire drills and safety exercises.
• Strong problem-solving and critical thinking skills.
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team.

Working Conditions / Other Requirements

• Occasional evening or weekend hours may be required during peak operational periods (move-in, move-out, events, emergencies).
• Must be able to support high-volume periods with accuracy and professionalism.

Typical Qualifications

• Associate's degree required; Bachelor's degree preferred.
• 2-3 years of administrative, office management, or customer service experience (higher education preferred).
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office and ability to learn institutional systems (StarRez, Banner, EMS).
• Strong organizational, communication, and customer service skills.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities, maintain confidentiality, and work in a fast-paced environment.