Assistant - Student Success

Each year Durham Centre for Academic Development (DCAD) delivers 20, 10 and 6-week Pre-sessional programmes. These programmes are primarily for incoming international students who hold an offer for a Durham University degree and have narrowly missed their language condition for their main programme.
The Assistant- Student Success will support the wider pre-sessional team to ensure the smooth running of the programmes. They will contribute to the provision of a professional, efficient administrative service, supporting a wide range of teaching, learning and assessment activities.
Their main responsibility will be providing a consistent and reliable point of on-site support for the programmes, resolving straightforward problems and issues and acting as a primary point of contact for students and staff on pre-sessional courses around the campus.
For students, this may mean meeting with them to show them to classrooms or induction locations, signposting them to relevant support services or escalating to the wider pre-sessional team, as well as assisting with general queries and providing support for induction, registration and other administrative tasks students may be unfamiliar with (under the guidance of the Co-Ordinator- Student Success).
While supporting teachers, they will act swiftly to resolve issues (either themselves or by contacting relevant university services) such as access to classrooms, malfunctioning technology or rapid rollout of information.
We recruit in teachers annually to support these programmes, and it is often our students' first experience of living outside their home country or studying in an UK institutions, so the Assistant-Student Success will need to be calm, capable and reassuring when providing information and support, and not assume that the individuals they are assisting have knowledge or experience of the systems or activities they are describing.
The post-holder will also be responsible for making arrangements for moving people and materials around the site, including arranging transport for teachers with mobility or other accessibility requirements, processing and delivering stationary requests, moving equipment and teaching resources between locations and ensuring the teachers' shared office space is fully stocked with relevant items and is a clean and tidy central area for collaboration and preparation.
Other duties will include participating in all relevant meetings, including daily briefings and planning meetings, and any other basic administrative tasks necessary to the running of the courses.
The Assistant- Student Success will work alongside other administrative staff, under informal supervision of the Co-ordinator- Student Success, but reporting to the Senior Administrator.
As a major part of this role is essentially to be on-call for issues as they arise, the post-holder can expect to have periods of time each day where there are no immediate tasks to complete, so an individual who is confident in their abilities to identify self-development activities and autonomous learning opportunities would be ideal for this position.
Core responsibilities:

• Contribute input within a service team to provide a responsive service for stakeholders.



• Contribute input to deliver a stakeholder-focussed service.



• Respond to straightforward requests for information from stakeholders.



• Contribute to team effort with more straightforward tasks during peak work flows.



• Follow documented service procedures, referring to more experienced colleagues with less straightforward issues.



• Demonstrate some pre-employment familiarity with the techniques, and processes used in the service area.



• Learn new skills and techniques on the job working alongside more experienced team members.



• Learn about the hazards and risks within own area of work and report incidents in accordance with recognised procedures and protocols.



• Communicate with supervisor, team members, other staff, students and visitors in person or using electronic tools and applications.


Role responsibilities:

• Use office-based and/or familiar software to monitor and respond to issues as they arise.



• Use office-based and/or familiar software, applications and devices to deliver services.



• Assist team members to organise the work space and office-based equipment, tools and resources where necessary.



• Carry out tasks following strict procedures to log and record routine information and data for use by others.



• Follow guidelines and protocols to determine what to pass on and to whom where necessary.



• Any other reasonable duties.


Working Arrangements
This position will require the Assistant- Student Success to be present in the DCAD offices 5 days a week (Mon-Fri) from 8am to 4pm.

Further information about the role and the responsibilities is at the bottom of this job description.
Role Requirements
Here are the kind of activities that you'll be asked to undertake and ways in which you'll be expected to operate.
Service Delivery

• Provide an excellent service to our programme staff and students by carrying out your tasks using the relevant procedures (which we will provide training for).



• Be aware of any hazards and risks and report any incidents.



• Log and record routine information and data for use by others.



• Pass on information for use by others.



• Use standard office-based devices and applications (such as Word, Excel, Teams, MS Forms and Outlook) to deliver services.


Teamwork

• Help and cooperate with the rest of your team.



• Help your colleagues when required with other key activities undertaken within your service (for example, scanning in assessment papers at busy times or checking registers have been completed by teachers).



• Help colleagues organise office equipment and resources [such as stationery].



• Learn new skills and practices from more experienced colleagues.



• Bring any problems to the attention of more senior colleagues.


Communication/Personal

• Show a commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion and the University's values.



• Respond to routine requests for information., We will update you about your application at various points throughout the selection process, via automated emails from our e-recruitment system. Please check your spam/junk folder periodically to make sure you have not missed any of our updates.
  
  1. Good spoken and written communication skills.

2. Basic digital skills including the ability to use the internet and email.
3. Five GCSE's at least Grade C or level four (or equivalent) including English Language and Mathematics (or equivalent experience).
4. Experience of working in a team.
5. Experience of managing time to meet deadlines.
6. Experience of working in a customer focussed service.
7. Ability to follow instructions, spoken or written, accurately.
Desirable Criteria
1. A first aid qualification
2. Experience of working with International students or individuals from different cultural backgrounds.
3. A knowledge of the Durham University estate (particularly teaching locations).

At Durham University, we are proud of our people, because they are at the heart of our globally outstanding institution, which is a key part of our local community. We inspire our people to do extraordinary things and we invite you to join our fantastic team.

Across the University, we have a huge variety of roles and responsibilities, which together make us one large and successful community. Whether you are at the very start, middle or end of your career, there is a role for you. We believe everyone has their own unique skills to offer.

At the University we promote and actively champion equality, diversity and inclusion. It is crucial that everyone can be themselves and can flourish in an environment where everyone respects each other and is treated fairly. We want our people and wider community to feel happy, secure and proud to be a part of Durham. We are looking for the same values in you.

A competitive salary is only one part of the many fantastic benefits you will receive if you join the University: you will also receive access to the following fantastic benefits:


• 27 Days annual leave per year (in additional to 8 public holidays and 4 customary days per year), a total of 39 days. No matter how you travel to work, we have you covered. We have parking across campus, a cycle to work scheme which helps you to buy a bike and discount with local bus and train companies.


• Discounts via our benefits portal including; money off at supermarkets, high street retailers, IT products such as Apple, the cinema and days out at various attractions.


• On site nursery is available and access to holiday camps for children aged 5-16 throughout the year.


• Lots of support for health and wellbeing including discounted membership for our state of the art sport and gym facilities and access to a 24-7 Employee Assistance Programme.


• The opportunity to take part in staff volunteering activities.


• Family friendly policies, including maternity and adoption leave, which are among the most generous in the higher education sector (and likely above and beyond many employers)


• If you are keen on advancing in your role or career, we have a genuine passion for developing our colleagues from qualifications, to IT skills, courses and apprenticeships.


• Generous pension schemes.