Job Title: Office Assistant 
Classification: C4
Department: Community Engagement and Alumni Experience (University Development)
Updated: January 2025

Job Summary

This position provides high-level project management and administrative support to University Development. This individual will be a member of the Community Engagement and Alumni Experience team that strives to build meaningful relationships with alumni and community members to increase engagement and philanthropic support for Grand Valley State University.

Essential Functions

• Provides detailed administrative support to ensure accuracy in communicating and working with alumni, community members, and internal stakeholders. This includes calendar maintenance, meeting coordination and preparation, travel arrangements, updating database information, facilitating meetings, assisting with events, and other administrative duties as required. 
• Assists in providing documents and resources for our regional campus liaisons in driving alumni and community engagement, philanthropic support, and enrollment. 
• Assists and collaborates with colleagues on volunteer board materials by creating meeting agendas and documents, taking meeting minutes at gatherings, and documenting next steps.
• Oversees the management of the Alumni House and Visitor Center. This building management means being the on-site person in the Alumni House and Visitor Center as alumni and visitors have questions, completing building work order requests, and ensuring the building is in good working order. 
• Responsible for working with University Development Events team to assist them with data entry on attendees, preparing for events the day of and helping with event planning and execution, as needed.
• Maintains and monitors/analyzes budgetary records and reports. Also documents and handles expense reports for team ensuring they are completed in a timely manner.
• Utilizes CRM, Canva, word processing, document design, spreadsheet software, and other related tools to manage projects and to maintain and interpret data.
• Develops, prepares, and proofreads correspondence requiring excellent judgment and discretion, routinely edits materials for internal and external communications.
• Acts with a high degree of independence as liaison with internal and external constituents in preparing confidential meeting materials, presentations, proposals, minutes and other support functions.
• Interacts with internal and external individuals from scheduling appointments to coordination of projects. 
• Receives information and requests from internal and external audiences to the University, which may require explanation and interpretation of established Development Office policies and procedures and directs individuals to sources of additional information.
• Maintains, processes, and manipulates data using Microsoft Office products including but not limited to Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Access. 
• Maintains confidentiality of donor information.
• Maintains organization contact information.
• Other related duties as assigned.

Non-Essential Functions

Not Applicable.

Required Qualifications

• High school graduate or equivalent.
• Minimum of four years of relevant work experience.
• Demonstrated administrative and organizational skills.
• Experience with various computer software applications such as Microsoft Office and/or equivalent.
• Data entry experience.
• Typing and spelling competency with grammar and proofreading skills.
• Possess strong verbal and written communication skills.
• Demonstrated experience to successfully provide quality customer service.
• Demonstrated experience to successfully work independently, organize own work and coordinate work activities of others.
• Demonstrated experience to successfully coordinate large projects.
• Demonstrated experience to successfully handle multiple demands efficiently.
• Demonstrated experience to successfully organize and prioritize workload.
• Demonstrated experience to successfully navigate challenging situations in the workplace, while using good judgement.
• Demonstrated experience to successfully work under pressure and meet deadlines.
• Demonstrated experience to successfully maintain satisfactory work performance and attendance records.
• Ability to successfully maintain positive intercultural and interpersonal relationships.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in a higher education setting.
• A high attention to detail.
• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Communications, Nonprofit Administration or related field.
• Demonstrated ability for positive interaction with tact and diplomacy regarding alumni and community members concerns.
• Demonstrated experience working with a relationship management database such as Raiser’s Edge.

Supervision Received

Receives minimal supervision from a designated supervisor. Much of the work is self-initiated. Person is expected to function with considerable independence and apply appropriate policies and procedures within the assigned area of responsibility.

Supervision Exercised

Hire, train, schedule and coordinate the work of student employees and may act as lead worker to PSS staff members within the department/unit/division.

Physical Demands

• To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential function satisfactorily. Must have the physical stamina to work long hours and/or more than 5 days per week. The requirements listed are representative of the knowledge, skill and/or ability required.  Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
• The information contained in this job description is for compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (A.D.A) and is not an exhaustive list of the duties performed for this position. Additional duties are performed by the individuals currently holding this position and additional duties may be assigned.

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