Employment Opportunities at USD

Position Title & Department:

5759

In the Catholic tradition, the Student Affairs Division strives to create an inclusive, educational environment which motivates and supports student learning and personal development, serves the University community, and inspires students to make a positive contribution to society. Our philosophy and approach is to collaboratively work with Academic Affairs and all areas of the University to create an integrated learning environment.

The Student Affairs Division is a dynamic, student centered and learning organization. We are poised to create a vibrant and active co-curricular learning experience for all students. Our emphasis on leadership development and social change allows us to work on developing future ethical leaders to serve in a complex, global and changing world. We are committed to fostering a sense of belonging and continuously building toward a just, welcoming and caring community for all.

The University of San Diego, an engaged and contemporary Catholic institution, was founded by the Diocese of San Diego and the Society of the Sacred Heart in 1949. Governed by an independent board of trustees since 1972, USD remains committed to a liberal arts education grounded in the Catholic intellectual tradition and the pursuit of truth, goodness and beauty. Inspired by this centuries old tradition of Catholic higher education, the University welcomes people of all faith traditions and any, or no, religious background. The future success of USD relies on the contributions of those who seek to foster the development of engaged global citizens and an earnest confrontation of humanity’s urgent challenges.

The Student Life Coordinator provides coordination of TRS and other student facing programs and administrative support to the Assistant Vice President for Student Life. Support includes managing calendars, incoming calls, email, and written correspondence as requested. Handles highly confidential information and materials. Coordinates special projects including support for institutional assessment efforts and divisional strategic planning. Prepares financial documents and reconciles budget reports. Prepares materials and logistics for workshops, presentations, conferences, and committee meetings. Designs and produces electronic presentations, print materials, and informational handbooks. Manages development, production, and distribution of printed communications. Organizes various inter- and intra-departmental meetings and prepares agendas. Supports the VPSA Office, shares office management responsibilities.

Periodically, this position may be asked to lead or contribute to either ad hoc or ongoing division/campus projects outside the scope of their day-to-day activities.

Duties and Responsibilities:

Primary Support for AVP 

• Determines priority of issues for the AVP’s consideration; has all relevant materials available
• Reviews all incoming correspondence; forwards appropriate items and independently responds to inquiries
• Schedules appointments and maintains the calendars
• Composes correspondence and memoranda on behalf of the AVP, including highly confidential and sensitive material
• Serves as an information source for students, employees, parents, alumni, and the general public
• Screens and receives visitors, gives out information and/or refers to proper administrator/department and screens phone calls
• Maintains records/files for various committees and professional affiliations
• Prepares, organizes, manages and maintains files
• Arrange regular weekly and biweekly meetings for all directors reporting directly to the AVP.
• Assists with the coordination of all vacant position searches in the area as needed, including arranging search committee meetings, coordinating information distribution, contacting candidates, travel and meal accommodations, campus meetings, and notifications
• Scans and organizes all documents relating to the AVP electronically
• Is responsible for regular and special meeting preparations, including:
  • Schedules meetings, reserves rooms/sets up virtual meeting spaces through Zoom, and invites participants
  • Determines and requests catering and A/V needs
  • Prepares agendas, binders, research, and other materials
  • Identifies off-site meeting locations, reserves facilities, determines and coordinates food needs, and arranges payment
  • Purchases supplies/equipment
  • Obtains student representation as needed

Torero Renaissance Scholars Coordination

• Supervise and coordinate the day-to-day operations of the Torero Renaissance Scholars (TRS) Program
• Develop, oversee and reconcile program/event budgets, ensuring the departments remain within the allocated budget.
• Assist in the tracking and reporting of TRS student participation, engagement with coaches, grades, etc.
• Assist the AVP for Student Life in coordinating and executing training and professional development opportunities for TRS Support Team.
• Hire and onboard the TRS Graduate Assistant
• Supervise the TRS Graduate Assistant, including meeting at least once a week.
• Communicates and works closely with TRS donors and University Advancement.  Keeps them regularly updated on what is occurring with TRS
• Helps to coordinate the Catalyst Grant and other grant opportunities for TRS students
• Communicate with students and/or campus partners about student’s needs.
• Discuss needs with AVP of Student Life
• Oversee the selection process for new TRS Scholars by working closely with Financial Aid Services
• Oversee the TRS orientation for all TRS Scholars
• Meet with TRS Scholars as needed
• Schedules and ensures that all new TRS Scholars have an initial one-on-one meeting with the AVP for Student Life
• Assist Graduate Assistant in the development and overall coordination of programming, including during nights and weekends, for TRS students; including but not limited to the following topics:
  • Social Connection and Engagement
  • Health and Wellness
  • Financial Coaching and Assistance (FAFSA Workshop, Tax Filing)
  • Career Readiness
  • Cal-Fresh Enrollment Assistance
• Recruit and coordinate coaches for the TRS program
• Hold coaches meetings at least once per semester
• Coordinate campus cash for coaches so that they can take their scholar to coffee or lunch
• Coordinate TRS Scholar birthday recognitions
• Develop and Oversee the TRS Summer Intern Program
• Help with the annual grant reports
• Help look for new grant funding opportunities for TRS
• Provide TRS reports and updates to AVP of Student Life bi-monthly
• Conduce research on other private campus initiatives to support former foster youth and make recommendations as appropriate.
• Conduct other research as requested by the AVP for Student Life.

Student in Needs Fund Coordination

• Communicate with student and/or campus partner about students’ needs.
• Discuss needs with AVP of Student Life
• Once support has been approved, facilitate distribution of funds as direct pay or through Financial Aid disbursement.
• Oversee accounts managing balance and expenditures. 
• Provide monthly account reports to AVP of Student Life.

Budget and Travel

• Maintains departmental budgets utilizing Workday, reconcile accounts, and prepares requisitions and other financial documents monthly
• Prepares various accounting online forms/reports
• Drafts and records Budget Appropriation Change and journal entry requests for AVP’s approval
• Coordinates AVP for Student Life’s travel/conference arrangements: hotel and airline reservations, conference and retreat payments/deposits, and transportation needs
• Reconciles One Card transaction records through Concur - Torero Travel and Expense.

Other Administrative Duties

• Assists in and oversees preparation of bulk mailings (student surveys, etc.)
• Prepares special event arrangements, creates and sends invitations, maintains RSVP list, purchases supplies, makes room and catering arrangements as needed
• Assists the Vice President of Student Affairs and the AVP/Dean of Students in the absence of their respective assistants
• Supports the VPSA Office by sharing office management responsibilities
• Provide support for ongoing Student Affairs and Student Life programs, trainings, special events, and workshops
• Serve as committee member to regular working groups
• Serve as advisor to student organizations as needed

Special Projects

• Identifies resources and conducts research via the Internet, library, calling other campuses and other sources to support decision-making.
• Assists in the development, implementation, and assessment of various survey tools including Qualtrics.
• Coordinates departmental and divisional reports including annual report produced in the summer, annual budget requests and manuals by gathering, updating and summarizing information.
• Assists in the development of presentation visuals including PowerPoint, Google Slides, Prezi, and others.
• Prepares and oversees the identification process and distribution of various awards for Honors Convocation and Commencement: identification and disbursement of scholarship awards (financial process), assistance with Student Affairs Awards (annual recognition process) and Alcalá Award.
• Prepares and oversees the identification process and communicates recommendations to Financial Aid for scholarships (Boyce, Bob Hope Leadership and Nielsen Family.
• Assists in responding to reports of students who may be experiencing housing insecurity.  Work closely with Case Management and other departments to ensure that we are supporting students from becoming homeless.

Special Conditions of Employment:

• Must be able and willing to work some nights and weekends to facilitate and oversee student events.

Background check:  Successful completion of a pre-employment background check.

Degree Verification Requirement: Persons offered employment in this position will be required to provide official education transcripts for degree verification purposes. 

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree required. Substitution: A High School diploma and two additional years of work experience may substitute for bachelor’s degree at the rate of one year of work experience is equivalent to two years of education.
• Minimum two (2) years of progressively responsible general office experience in customer, client, and or student services required.
• Proven skills and abilities in working with Microsoft Office suite product, especially Excel
• Ability to learn new software systems quickly

Preferred Qualifications:

• Master’s degree preferred
• Experience working with former foster youth, formerly emancipated youth, and/or youth who may have experienced homelessness is preferred
• Experience working in a higher educational setting preferred
• Experience planning and coordinating events is preferred.
• Supervisory experience preferred
• At least 1 year of experience providing direct executive level support is preferred

Performance Expectations - Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Willingness to support the Catholic mission and vision of the University.
• Ability to work well independently and in a dynamic team environment, and interface well with many individuals (administrators, faculty, students and staff) using tact and diplomacy
• Excellent communication, customer service, and problem-solving skills
• Desktop computer skills, and the ability to quickly adapt to and learn new software programs
• Ability to work independently and effectively, as well as initiate, coordinate, oversee and complete various projects with minimal supervision
• Clear, concise writing skills using proper English grammar, punctuation and spelling; accurate note-taking skills including meeting minutes and proofreading skills
• Thorough knowledge of general office practices and procedures
• Basic knowledge of accounting principles
• Strong ability to anticipate needs and prioritize workload
• Must possess flexibility and versatility – able to adapt to and perform in new, changing or pressure situations
• Strong organizational skills with ability to handle several major projects simultaneously
• Ability to maintain confidentiality of information regarding students and employees as required by University policy and the Buckley Amendment
• Ability to create and design attractive and error free formal presentations, informational handbooks, and electronic presentations
• Advanced knowledge of Microsoft Suite programs including Word, Excel, and PowerPoint; familiarity with Google programs including Mail, Calendar, Sheets, Docs, and Slides
• Experience with social networking tools
• Knowledgeable with web related emerging technology and development
• Ability to become familiar with University history and mission, departments, fiscal procedures and specific governmental and other external regulations quickly
• Respond promptly to all questions and requests for information
• Excellent skills in the use of tools and equipment as identified below
• Knowledge of Workday, Banner, Cognos, Oracle, EMS, Noetix, Qualtrics, Cascade, Concur, Truescreen, Zoom, and Salesforce
• Demonstrated practice of centering diversity, equity, inclusion, and antiracism in one’s work including an ongoing commitment to personal learning and development in this area
• Demonstrated commitment to student learning and development in the co-curriculum and experience assessing the impact of programs and related services.  

$32.58 - $36.88 per hour; Excellent Benefits

The University of San Diego offers a very competitive benefits package including; medical, dental, vision, a retirement contribution given to you by the University, and access to on-campus Fitness Centers.  Please visit the benefits section of our website to view all of the perks and benefits that USD has to offer.  USD: Human Resources: Benefits

The salary range provided in this posting reflects what we reasonably expect to pay for this position.  Actual compensation offered or earned is dependent on experience, education and other factors including departmental budget.

Click the 'Apply Now' button to complete our online application. In addition, please upload a cover letter and resume to your application profile for the hiring managers’ review.  If you have any questions or difficulties please contact the Employment Services Team at jobs@sandiego.edu.

Hours: 37.5 hours per week

Closing date: Open until filled

Note: External job postings will be up for at least three days. After that time, applications will be reviewed by the hiring manager/committee throughout the posting period. A candidate may be selected at any time which could then close this posting on a date earlier than listed.

The University of San Diego is a smoking and tobacco-free campus. For more information, visit www.sandiego.edu/smokefree.