Administrative Assistant, Office of the Dean

Overview

The Opportunity

Cornell University’s College of Architecture, Art, and Planning is seeking a dedicated and proactive Administrative Assistant with excellent communication skills to join the Office of the Dean. This role involves providing comprehensive administrative support and project assistance to the Senior Associate Dean for Strategic Initiatives and Engagement, the Associate Dean for Diversity and Equity, and the Executive Staff Assistant.  This position requires a proactive and resourceful approach to problem-solving with a high level of customer service.

Key Responsibilities:

Administrative Support to the Associate Deans

• Provide proactive administrative support to the Senior Associate Dean for Strategic Initiatives and Engagement and the Associate Dean for Diversity and Equity.
• Manage calendars, prioritize meeting requests, and coordinate complex meetings.
• Execute and manage logistics for specialized meetings and events.
• Support ad hoc projects, including research, data collection, and stakeholder contact.
• Draft routine correspondence, create spreadsheets, prepare presentations, and organize meeting materials.
• Coordinate travel arrangements and process travel reimbursements.

General Office Duties

• Serve as the receptionist for the Dean’s Office, welcoming visitors, answering phones, and managing email inquiries.
• Support the operational and maintenance needs of the office.
• Manage office supplies, procurement needs, and maintain office equipment.
• Organize and maintain paper and electronic office files, ensuring confidentiality.
• Assist with office mailings, directories, and procedural documents.

Support to the Executive Staff Assistant

• Monitor and prioritize the Dean’s office correspondence.
• Assist with administrative processes, including data collection and scheduling.
• Coordinate complex travel arrangements and support expense reporting.
• Schedule and organize college-wide meetings and events.

Event Coordination

• Assist in planning and executing special events and meetings.
• Arrange travel, accommodations, venues, catering, and promotional activities.
• Manage event logistics, RSVPs, and on-site support.

Other Responsibilities

• Participate in projects beyond the current classification.
• Seek professional development opportunities to enhance effectiveness and connection to Cornell’s mission.

If you are an experienced administrative professional who is organized and detail-oriented and is passionate about making a meaningful impact, we invite you to apply with your resume and cover letter. Join us in shaping the future of the College of Architecture, Art, and Planning at Cornell University.

There is no visa sponsorship and no relocation funds for this position.

About the College

The College of Architecture, Art, and Planning at Cornell University (Cornell AAP) is home to nearly 1,000 students, 120 faculty, and 65 staff members who come together from around the world to take up some of today's most urgent challenges and advance research, inquiry, and design to build a more just and sustainable future.

A vital college at one of the nation's foremost research universities, Cornell AAP bridges fields and faculty with five departments, 20 degree programs, 18 faculty-led labs, and the Cornell Mui Ho Center for Cities, a platform for building partnerships that make a positive impact in our cities and communities nationally and internationally.

Cornell AAP's departments include Architecture, Art, and Planning, as well as the new multicollege Paul Rubacha Department of Real Estate, jointly led by the S.C. Johnson College of Business, and the multicollege Department of Design Tech, administered by Cornell AAP in partnership with Cornell Bowers CIS, Cornell Engineering, the Cornell Human Ecology, and Cornell Tech. The college is housed across three locations (Ithaca, New York; New York City; and Rome, Italy), each offering world-class facilities and cutting-edge technologies.

Cornell AAP is about acts of transformation. We are committed to building a caring, inclusive, and rigorous community around our shared priorities — Creative + Critical Practices, Sustainability + Social Impact, Design + Emerging Technologies, and the Future of Cities + Development — that enable us to reimagine and reshape the world in radically new ways, every day.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications:

• Associate’s degree and at least 2 years of relevant experience, or an equivalent combination of education and related experience. 
• Proficiency with Outlook email and calendar, and Microsoft Office Suite. 
• Effective interpersonal, written, and verbal communication skills including proofreading, editing, and taking meeting minutes. 
• Ability to multi-task and prioritize tasks effectively.
• Experience with event planning and coordination. 
• Experience preparing complex travel itineraries. 
• Ability to handle highly sensitive information with tact and diplomacy and maintain confidentiality. 
• Experience in and/or demonstrated commitment to supporting diversity, equity, access, inclusion, and wellbeing. 
• Ability to cultivate and develop inclusive and equitable working relationships with students, faculty, staff, and community members.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience providing administrative support to faculty or academic leaders. 
• Experience using programs designed for website content management (e.g., Drupal), listserv management (Lyris), and/or database development and management (e.g., Airtable, Smartsheet, or Filemaker). 
• Knowledge of Cornell University travel and reimbursement and payment request systems. 

Required Application Materials

Most positions at Cornell will require you to apply online and submit both a resume/CV and cover letter.  You can upload documents either by "dragging and dropping" them into the dropbox or by using the "upload" icon on the application page. For more detailed instructions on how to apply to a job at Cornell, visit How We Hire on the HR website.

Benefits

The pay range is $25.52 - $29.66 per hour.

Non-Union Positions
Noted pay ranges reflect the potential pay opportunity for each job profile. The hiring rate of pay for the successful candidate will be determined considering the following criteria:

• prior relevant work or industry experience.
• education level to the extent education is relevant to the position.
• unique applicable skills.
• academic Discipline (faculty pay ranges reflect 9-month annual salary).

To learn more about Cornell's non-union staff job titles and pay ranges, see Career Navigator.

Union Positions
The hiring rate of pay for the successful candidate will be determined in accordance with the rates in the respective collective bargaining agreement. To learn more about Cornell's union wages, see Union Pay Rates.

Questions and Additional Information

Melinda Stelick
(607) 255-4316
ms294@cornell.edu