Department: Residential Experience
Salary/Grade: NEX/11

Northwestern University's Residential Services helps build a community environment for students through housing-related services, intentional learning opportunities and residential settings that include residence halls and residential colleges. Learn more about the Residential Services department and the Residential Community & Support team here:

About Student Affairs: By pursuing justice, equity, and belonging, Student Affairs cultivates student programs, services, and skills; disrupts barriers; and partners across Northwestern and neighboring communities to create an inclusive culture in which all students can thrive. Learn more about the Division of Student Affairs here:

Job Summary

The Program Assistant coordinates Residential Community & Support (RCS) administrative processes and prioritizes, directs, and responds to business matters involving administrative functions associated with human resources, payroll, education, and operations.

The Program Assistant acts as the administrative lead for the department. They directly support the Director of Residential Community and Support by effectively and efficiently managing the director's calendar, travel arrangements, and workflow requirements, and create and cultivate internal and external relationships that will ensure that all associated activities are completed diplomatically and on time. The RCS Program Assistant also serves as a key member of the RCS team providing direction and education to staff and students affiliates on financial and administrative processes.

Pay Range: The pay range for this Program Assistant position is $22.99 - $25.04 per hour depending on experience, skills, and internal equity.

Principal Accountabilities:

Human Resources and Payroll 30%

• Process all onboarding and offboarding paperwork for over 130 Resident Assistants/Graduate Resident Assistants and 9 Assistant Resident Directors.
• Process onboarding and offboarding paperwork for 16 RCS full-time professional staff
• Manage hours and payroll for 1 - 2 student employees throughout the year.
• Process all one-time payments/stipends for student leaders and professional staff including mobile allowances.
• Resolve hiring, termination, payroll etc. processing problems for student leaders and professional staff.

Accounting 30%

• Manage procurement for the RCS team and multiple Student Resource rooms including office supplies, merchandise and iBuyNU acquisitions.
• Reconcile all RCS charges with departmental budgets.
• Provide training & ongoing support to RCS staff regarding expense reports, SOFO policies and budgeting resources.
• Resolve discrepancies and issues with budget, expense processing, etc.
• Manage Corporate Card reconciliations via expense reports for self and Director.

Office and Program Coordination 20%

• Maintain office operations records.
• Maintain calendars for supervisor and help coordinate calendars for the RCS team including but not limited to RCS Operational calendar
• Coordinate travel arrangements for conference attendance
• Coordinate and update agenda items including running data summaries from multiple systems and creating visual displays of data.
• Respond independently to inquiries via phone, email, or in person
• Manage all contracts, services and rentals including payment of 20 cell phone lines
• Access and run reports from Student Information Systems including student enrollment, meal plans, and grade verifications
• Collaborate with staff in shared office space to ensure adequate supply ordering and operational needs are maintained

Communication 10%

• Take, revise and disseminate minutes from various RCS meetings
• Support Director with creating and cultivating internal and external relationships
• Manage departmental marketing including collection of materials, ordering & distribution and engaging social media templates for RCS

Supervision 5%

• Recruit, hire, and supervise one to two undergraduate student employees throughout the academic year to support routine clerical operations.

Other Duties as Assigned 5%

Minimum Qualifications:

• A high school diploma or equivalent required.
• 4 years of administrative support or other relevant experience required.
• Direct experience with basic Microsoft Suite: Outlook, Word, Excel, & PowerPoint

Minimum Competencies:

• Intermediate knowledge of word processing, spreadsheet, email, and database software programs is required.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree preferred.
• Previous experience with office management in a corporate or collegiate environment
• Demonstrated experience managing multiple projects
• Direct experience with entire Microsoft Suite: Teams, SharePoint, OneNote
• Direct experience with budget tracking and management in an office setting
• Previous customer service training or demonstrated direct experience with customer service in an office setting

Preferred Competencies:

• Familiarity with confidentiality and privacy laws (or experience working in environments subject to confidentiality and/or privacy laws)

Benefits: At Northwestern, we are proud to provide meaningful, competitive, high-quality health care plans, retirement benefits, tuition discounts and more! Visit us at to learn more.

Work-Life and Wellness: Northwestern offers comprehensive programs and services to help you and your family navigate life's challenges and opportunities, and adopt and maintain healthy lifestyles. We support flexible work arrangements where possible and programs to help you locate and pay for quality, affordable childcare and senior/adult care. Visit us at to learn more.

Professional Growth and Development: Northwestern supports employee career development in all circumstances whether your workspace is on campus or at home. If you're interested in developing your professional potential or continuing your formal education, we offer a variety of tools and resources. Visit us at to learn more.

Northwestern strongly recommends COVID-19 vaccinations and boosters for people who can obtain them as a critical tool for minimizing severe illness. More information can be found on the webpage.

The Northwestern campus sits on the traditional homelands of the people of the Council of Three Fires, the Ojibwe, Potawatomi, and Odawa as well as the Menominee, Miami and Ho-Chunk nations. We acknowledge and honor the original people of the land upon which Northwestern University stands, and the Native people who remain on this land today.

Northwestern University is an Equal Opportunity, Affirmative Action Employer of all protected classes, including veterans and individuals with disabilities. Women, racial and ethnic minorities, individuals with disabilities, and veterans are encouraged to apply. Click for information on EEO is the Law.

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