Senior Administrative Specialist

Position Title: Senior Administrative Specialist

Department: Social Work

Advertised Pay: Base $16.69/hour potential for a higher entry rate commensurate with experience

Campus Location: Washburn University

Application Deadline:  Application review will begin as applications are received and will continue until the position is filled. Applicants can be assured of full consideration if submitted by: July 16, 2025.

Position Summary: Washburn University is a teaching-focused, student-centered, public institution located in the metropolitan setting of Topeka that has earned national recognition for its high-impact programs for first-generation students. Washburn has a student body of over 5,500 undergraduate, graduate, and law students, a significant and growing number of whom are first-generation and Pell-Grant eligible. The University has created educational pathways for all students to be successful and achieve their educational goals.

Washburn is dedicated to recruiting and retaining a dynamic faculty, staff, and student body and cultivating a robust learning and working environment and curriculum. We employ more than one thousand faculty and staff on our campuses throughout Topeka and strive to offer competitive wages, an excellent benefits program, and a supportive culture and a healthy work/life balance. Washburn seeks to create an environment that reflects our core values for creating positive IMPACT: inclusion, modernization, partnership, achievement, community and transformation. In 2024, Washburn was recognized as one of the best colleges in the nation to work for, according to Great Colleges to Work For® program.

The Senior Administrative Specialist performs administrative duties and support for the programs and faculty within the Department of Social Work.

Essential Functions:
• Greet and assist visitors, answer telephone calls, direct calls/messages, and provide or obtain information in response to inquiries or issues that arise. Make appropriate referrals. Contact students, faculty, vendors, and others as necessary.
• Prepare outgoing and process incoming mail.
• Maintain office supply inventory and order supplies as needed. Oversee use and maintenance of office equipment. Initiate repair or maintenance as needed.
• Monitor and document department expenditures, operating expenses, and budget balances. Create, submit, and track purchase orders and payment requests. Manage purchasing card and online accounts for routine purchases. Complete routine allocation of purchases, attachment of receipts, and approvals of tranactions in a timely fashion.
• Assist with ordering textbooks and desk copies and facilitate course textbook adoption following university bookstore procedures as requested.
• Utilize Microsoft Office and other applications to produce and distribute correspondence, fliers, and other documents as assigned. Create, review, and format documents (manuals, syllabi, etc.) as requested.
• Manage student applications, declarations of major, and advisor assignment processes in accordance with accreditation standards and department policy in consultation with BSW and MSW program directors.
• Create, update, and maintain digital documents and files for office records and student records to track student progress. Organize and update shared network folders.
• Complete processes within university and web-based programs (e.g., Banner, Slate, Desire to Learn, Navigate, Argos, Concur, Dynamic Forms, Sonia, etc.) to support student admission and degree progression, course scheduling, department business processes, etc.
• Serve as the primary point of contact for the web-based student field education placement tracking system, run various data reports, maintain placement groups, and prepare and update internal forms within the system.
• Provide support for ongoing continuing education credits that the department offers by emailing the CEU letters out to attendees and taking RSVPs.
• Attend departmental meetings and take minutes as requested.
• Perform additional job-related duties as assigned or as appropriate.

Required Qualifications:
• High School diploma, GED, or equivalent.
• One year of full-time relevant work experience or a combination of post-secondary education and full-time relevant work experience equal to one year.
• Demonstrated proficiency using Microsoft Excel, Outlook, and Word and the ability to learn new software systems.
• Demonstrated record of effective organizational, communication, problem-solving, and time management skills.
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple tasks with effective attention to detail and ability to meet deadlines.
• Demonstrated dedication to equal opportunity and working effectively with individuals from all backgrounds.
• Demonstrated effective interpersonal and customer service skills, professionalism, discretion, and capacity to appropriately handle sensitive and confidential information.

Preferred Qualifications:
• Work experience in higher education or other educational environment.
• Experience using Learning Management Systems (LMS).

Hourly, Full-time, Mon-Fri, 8am-4:30pm   
Background Check Required