Student & Programme Administrator (Dubai) - Dubai Operations - 97571 - Band 500

Description

Position Details

Dubai Professional Services, External Relations

University of Birmingham, Dubai campus

Salary: Competitive

Band 500

Number of Openings: 4

Full time

Permanent

Location: Dubai, UAE

Closing date: 19 June 2021

University of Birmingham Dubai

Having established ourselves in Dubai International Academic City in 2018 we are now moving to a new and exciting phase of our development with the opening of our new state-of-the-art campus in September 2021. This post represents an excellent opportunity to join an ambitious World Top 100 University as we continue to grow our long-term strategic mission in Dubai, the UAE and the wider region. Our campus reflects the very best of Birmingham through our presence in Dubai.

Professional Services Ethos

Our ethos as a Professional Services team has been developed in line with the principles of being a Birmingham Professional. In particular, here in Dubai, this means that all Professional Services colleagues seek to collaborate effectively to ensure the needs of the whole campus community and our stakeholders are met. It also means that we work constructively together to provide a flexible range of service and support that adapt to the changing needs of the Campus as we grow. There are specific focal points in the academic cycle when all Professional Services team members will be expected to contribute regardless of their primary role, for example Welcome or Graduation. In addition, the duties listed below are illustrative of the general nature and level of responsibility of this post which is likely to change over time in response to the needs of the Campus and as you develop your experience and skills. You will have the opportunity to develop and may also need to specialise your duties further, over time, in agreement with your manager.

In order to contribute to the success of the team and the University's vision for the Dubai Campus the Professional Services team will be seeking to continue to recruit and develop colleagues who display:

• a high level of intellectual aptitude;
• strong agility and a portfolio of skills that can adapt to meet changing circumstances;
• an innovative and creative mindset; and
• both an enterprising and entrepreneurial nature to support our growth and pursuit of excellence.

Department Overview

The Services and Support thematic area will focus on providing all students with the University of Birmingham Dubai with a wide range of high quality services and support. This will also support the University and our academic colleagues in the delivery of our academic mission in respect of both Education and Research including:

• Welcome and induction activities
• Careers, employability and skills support
• Programme administration support and services
• Research administration support
• Visa and immigration services
• Information advice and guidance services
• Learning an library services
• Wellbeing services
• Academic Skills support
• Support to the University of Birmingham Dubai Students' Association
• General student administration through to graduation support.

Job summary

You will join a professional services team which is passionate about providing excellent administration support for students and staff.

Duties may vary between teams, but you will have the opportunity to contribute or take a lead in all aspects of student and programme administration ranging from registration throughout the student journey to graduation.

You will work closely with a diverse group of people including managers, academic staff, PS staff and students to deliver the annual cycle of teaching and learning administration related activities, including online registration, student fee processing, student records, student mobility and assessment and examinations support.

Main duties

General

• Promotes equality and values diversity acting as a role model and fostering an inclusive working culture.
• Actively manages equality, diversity and inclusion through monitoring and evaluation and actively challenging unacceptable behaviour.
• Undertake continuous personal and professional development.

Job Specific Duties

• Act as the first point of contact providing relevant and timely information to students, staff and external providers, answering queries promptly and handling any issues from initial contact to resolution. This will include recognising when queries need to be referred elsewhere.
• To be the lead contact for all students on Dubai taught programmes. In doing so, to initiate and/or answer enquiries to/from staff and students on those programmes about all aspects of student record data and students' progression and award.
• Using complex multi-user systems such as Banner, BIRMS and BOXI, to support the operational management of student records from Registration through to Graduation for students on a variety of taught programmes at the University throughout the academic year; this will include all aspects of Exam Board processing in the Main, Supplementary and Dissertation assessment periods.
• Provide administrative support for a wide range of activities in delivering the annual cycle of teaching and learning outlined in the role summary above; for example, recording student attendance information or seeking draft exam papers from academic staff for approval.
• Act as primary contact for academic staff involved in the Schools' /Programmes' learning and teaching, providing expert guidance, understanding and resolving queries, and identifying when to delegate or escalate queries.
• Regularly communicate relevant information to students, staff and external providers.
• Work with and support your team to plan, organise, maintain and deliver activities, enabling the successful delivery of programmes.
• Specifically take responsibility for the more complex tasks associated with student fees, student records, end of session processes, attendance monitoring and recording, student mobility admin, online and module registration, placements, examinations, progression, student status changes, and graduation.
• Contribute to the annual programme/module review and evaluation processes.
• Make a substantial contribution to the management, development and implementation of operational processes.
• Prepare and deliver management and institutional reports; this will include responding to complex data requests involving the need to pull information from various sources.
• Compile, manipulate, analyse and interpret large and complex data sets, drawing up reports and/or identifying required actions as appropriate.
• Use a variety of complex University systems and processes to collate, manipulate and interpret sets of data, and produce routine reports.
• Support the development of systems and procedures to assist in the day to day running of student and programme administration.
• Provide administrative support for event planning and delivery which enhances the curriculum and student experience.
• Proactively identify ways of enhancing the curriculum and student experience, making recommendations as appropriate.
• Contribute to periodic reviews of administrative processes and procedures with the objective of making improvements and sharing best practice across other areas within the wider University.
• Contribute to providing frontline support to student interaction points within the Campus, providing excellent customer service, initial guidance and support as necessary.
• Providing a professional secretarial service to relevant committees and meetings, where required.
• Manage all data in accordance with University policy and Data Protection Regulations.

Additional responsibilities

• Supporting timetabling and room bookings activity, as required.
• Manage all data in accordance with University policy and Data Protection Regulations.
• To undertake such other duties as may be required from time to time.
• Undertake such other duties as may be prescribed from time to time by the Head of Student and Programme Administration.
• Undertake continuous personal and professional development.
• Conduct financial and Health & Safety duties in line with statutory and University's policies and procedures.

Person Specification

Required Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications, Experience

You will need to evidence:

• Substantial professional experience in a variety of similar roles; and
• GCSEs to a minimum of grade C in English and Mathematics (or equivalent qualifications) and
• A levels or an equivalent level 3 qualification, such as a Level 3 NVQ, or level 3 national diploma.

You will be:

• Comfortable in a role where you take significant responsibility and where you are expected to proactively propose new ways of working.
• Comfortable working on your own initiative to complete tasks and projects without close supervision.
• Able to become authoritative quickly on complex systems and be able to advise colleagues on these.
• Able to set the standard for other colleagues, acting as a role model and coaching staff as appropriate.
• You will be able to communicate and delegate effectively as required.
• Well organised with the ability to prioritise work (your own and the work of others) proactively, independently and as part of a team.

In addition to the above, you should be able to demonstrate and/or evidence the following:

• The ability to work to tight deadlines in a collaborative team environment.
• The ability to supervise and support the work of other team members.
• A good understanding of delivering excellent customer service and the ability to influence others to deliver it too.
• The ability to interact with individuals at all levels of internal and external organisations.
• Experience of using and maintaining complex work systems e.g. student databases/record systems or equivalent.
• Exemplary attention to detail and the ability to work confidentially, use judgement and make appropriate decisions within the constraints of the role
• The ability to cope with change in a fast moving, dynamic environment where change is often required immediately.
• An understanding of the importance of equality and diversity in the workplace
• Ability to identify and respond to equality and diversity issues in line with relevant policies and procedures.

Dimensions

You may directly manage others in this role but, even if you do not, you will still be expected to act as a role model and coach members of the team. You will not normally manage a budget in this role.

Problem solving and decision making

• You will be working under the direction of a senior manager (Head of Student and Programme Administration), but with considerable autonomy to deliver the outputs required. You will be working within the framework of existing policies, processes and procedures for the University and the relevant College, but there will be plenty of scope to review and shape processes. You will take day to day decisions on some of the more complex tasks in the team's remit including identifying next steps as appropriate.

Internal and external relationships

• This role will be liaising with internal colleagues and stakeholders, external stakeholders as well, sometimes with customers who have issues with the service, with an expectation on maintaining good working relationships with all.

Valuing excellence, sustaining investment

We value diversity and inclusion at the University of Birmingham and welcome applications from all sections of the community and are open to discussions around all forms of flexible working.