Education assistant

We are a world class research-intensive university. We deliver teaching and learning of the highest quality. We play a leading role in economic, social and cultural development of the North East of England. Attracting and retaining high-calibre people is fundamental to our continued success.

What’s in it for you? Newcastle University is a great place to work, with excellent benefits. We have a generous holiday package; plus the opportunity to buy more, great pension schemes and a number of health and wellbeing initiatives to support you.

Newcastle is an inclusive global University community where everyone is treated with dignity and respect.  As a University of Sanctuary, we aim to provide a welcoming place of safety for all, offering opportunities to people fleeing violence and persecution.

Newcastle University is committed to being a fully inclusive Global University which actively recruits, supports and retains colleagues from all sectors of society.  We value diversity as well as celebrate, support and thrive on the contributions of all our employees and the communities they represent.  We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from everybody, regardless of race, sex, ethnicity, religion, nationality, sexual orientation, age, disability, gender identity, marital status/civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, as well as being open to flexible working practices.

Salary: £24,144 to £25,285 with progression to £27,396 per annum

Closing date: 26 March 2023

The Role

We are looking for a motivated, enthusiastic and highly-organised individual to join our Professional Services Education Support Team. You will work closely with professional service colleagues and academic leads to ensure effective and efficient administrative processes and support across the programmes delivered by the three academic units which make up School X. 

You will be a problem solver with initiative and a can-do attitude, and will be adaptable and flexible in your approach. You will have relevant administrative experience, particularly in process delivery and development, and customer service. You will be a ‘people person’ with an ability to work in and across teams, and will be committed to providing an excellent student and colleague experience. 

School X is Newcastle University’s newest academic School, established in 2021 with an interdisciplinary future-facing focus. School X brings together the expertise of three established academic units: Combined Honours, Philosophy and Researcher Education and Development in addition to being the focus of University-wide interdisciplinary projects.

Please note there are two roles available, one permanent for School X and one 12 months fixed term maternity cover for the Researcher Education Development Team (RED) that sits within School X. Please could you state on your application which post/s you are interested in.

Informal enquiries may be made to Lucy Bell, Education Team Leader (lucy.bell@ncl.ac.uk).

Key Accountabilities

• To manage the development and improvement of processes and support across the three academic units in School X. The Education Administrator will act on behalf of the Education Team Leader following an agreed set of guiding principles and will collaborate with the three unit Education Administrators, reporting back to the Education Team Leader on progress.
• Work in collaboration with the Education Administrator and Education Assistants to deliver education activities within  School X for both undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. These include, but are not limited to: 
  • Determining and inputting amendments to annual documentation such as  handbooks, websites and virtual learning platforms, seeking advice from academic colleagues where necessary.0-
  • Having an oversight of exam papers and assignment briefs within the cluster, ensuring they are prepared, collated and submitted to deadlines in the prescribed format, including liaison with External Examiners. Managing coursework submission, including having an oversight for follow up for non or late submissions. In addition, administration of assessment and Boards of Examiners processes, including chasing missing marks or anomalies in marks
  • Support the Education Team Leader on the collation of timetable requirements in agreed timescales and, , managing the practicalities of proposed timetables, taking into account appropriate locations, and liaising with academic staff regarding requirements, advising on constraints and practicalities of requests
• Support student evaluation processes, extraction of reports from the relevant system and provision to appropriate academic and professional service colleagues
• Ensuring that meetings (for example, Boards of Study, Boards of Examiners, PEC Committees and others) take place in a timely fashion, providing administrative support, including minute taking, where required for specific meetings and resulting actions
• Ensuring that student records are accurately maintained, checking and providing reports to academic and professional service colleagues across the university as requested
• Providing support for student education-related activities throughout the academic year, including student recruitment and student engagement events
• Having an oversight of criteria-based decisions for absence requests and personal extenuating circumstances requests, referring requests which require further decision-making authority to the relevant personnel, and communicating decisions to students via prescribed systems on behalf of the relevant academic member of staff
• Responsible for the receipt and acknowledgement of Level 1 appeals and complaints forms, for chasing additional information where required, tracking within stated timescales
• Acting as the expert user for the School of one or more of the systems used in supporting learning and teaching, i.e. SAP, Module Outline Forms (MOFs), Canvas, and for training other staff where appropriate.
• Providing guidance, based on regulations, to students and academic staff with regard to non-standard requests, and for providing student-based management information as required to colleagues
• Providing students with a consistent level of service and ensuring they are effectively supported throughout their programme lifecycle, including whilst taking part in activities such as placements and mobility opportunities
• Providing information to meet internal and external requests 
• Working with the Education Team leader to run Attendance Monitoring reports, sending communications and arranging follow up meetings with academic colleagues in line with institutional policy
• The post holder will be on the School’s reception rota and will be expected to take on a generic health and safety role within the School
• To work closely with colleagues/teams at School, faculty and University level to: deliver School X strategy, ensuring alignment with the University’s strategies, policies, guidelines and approaches; share best practice in a service culture; and undertake joint planning with a commitment to change management in order to maximise impact and effectiveness
• To carry out other duties, as defined by the Education Team Leader, which support the successful achievement of School X vision and strategy

The Person (Essential)

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

• Working knowledge of relevant systems (including but not limited to SAP, NESS, Canvas), processes and procedures including standard software packages
• Demonstrable work experience in a relevant role and/or comparable setting
• Initiative and judgement to resolve problems independently
• Excellent interpersonal and teamwork skills 
• Good written and oral communication skills
• Good numeracy skills
• Excellent IT skills. Ability to use Microsoft Excel, Word and Outlook and the ability to manipulate and analyse information for management purposes
• Ability to prioritise and commitment to successful outcomes
• Understanding of relevant policies and procedures, as they affect the role, and the quality standards and outputs required
• Attention to detail
• Ability to apply relevant health and safety and other University policies and procedures
• Willingness and availability to work flexibly when required and agreed with line manager
• Ability to train/develop and supervise other staff

Attributes and Behaviour
Communicating   

• Uses clear, concise and accurate communication, tailoring the approach accordingly and encouraging a two way communication process
• Is factually correct and gives consistent verbal and non-verbal messages   
• Chooses communication tools appropriately eg selective use of emails ad other channels of communication
• Tailors content of communication to the audience, changing style, tone and format appropriately

Embracing Change   

• Recognises the need for change and is forward looking. Promotes the benefits of change to others and regularly comes up with new ideas. Has the willingness to adopt new ways of working and to make improvements.   
• Accepts the reality and requirements of change as part of achieving goals   
• Is able to achieve change at individual and functional level   
• Reviews and revises plans to meet with changing circumstances   
• Is supportive of others during change
• Develops and implements new ideas  

Team Working   

• Works collaboratively with others and plays a positive role in teams and establishes and grows relationships where different skills, expertise and opinions are valued.
• Respects the expertise and contribution of others even if own opinion is different   
• Shares relevant and useful information; keeps team members up to date   
• Gets involved with team tasks; supportive of team decisions.
• Willing to help others and share workloads; asks others’ opinion.  
• Respects the value that different views bring to the team   

Planning and Organising  

• Manages time and resources by prioritising and organising effectively  
• Identifies quickly what is important and prioritises accordingly  
• Maintains flexibility in work plans to allow for changing circumstances  
• Works in a planned and structured way  
• Ensures that all activities are completed on time  

Delivering Services  

• Works continually towards achieving excellent service delivery through understanding and meeting/exceeding the expectations of the area, the University, students, colleagues and other stakeholders.  
• Demonstrates high energy and commitment to the delivery of excellent service     
• Knows and understands customer/stakeholder needs in terms of outputs  
• Keeps fellow team members up to date with progress   
• Co-operates with others in achieving targets 

Qualifications

• Grades A-C in English Language and Mathematics at GCSE or equivalent (or vocational qualifications or equivalent)
   

The University holds a silver Athena SWAN award in recognition of our good employment practices for the advancement of gender equality. The University is also a member of the Euraxess initiative supporting researchers in Europe.

Requisition ID: 25215