Office Administrator (3471) [REPOST]

Position Information

Posting Detail Information

Working Position Title Office Administrator (3471) [REPOST] Classification Office Administrator Position Number 00003471 Open Date 08/27/2026 Close Date 09/14/2026 Priority Review Date Employee Class Staff Full-Time/Part Time Full-Time FTE 1.00 Position Status Regular FLSA Non-Exempt Job code 3253 Union Representation Union Union Code AFC - AFSCME C, Local #1890 Unit/Department Psychology College/Unit College of LA&S Dean Division Academic Division Location PM 409 Link to Department Website or Custom Search Page https://www.niu.edu/clas/psychology/

Position Summary, Requirements, and Qualifications

Position Summary, Requirements, and Qualifications

Overview

With 18 departments and 5 centers spanning the humanities, social sciences and natural sciences, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences is the largest of NIU's six undergraduate colleges. By the nature of our mission, we touch virtually every new student to the university, regardless of their major, through the wide array of general education courses housed within our departments.

The Department of Psychology provides a vibrant and exciting atmosphere for students to develop and train as a psychologist. The science of psychology is a rapidly evolving field that influences all aspects of society. Psychology offers Bachelor degrees and graduate studies in several specializations. Many of the Psychology faculty are involved in research and enjoy sharing their expertise with local, regional and national organizations

Position Summary

The primary responsibility of this position is to provide leadership in carrying out all administrative functions of the Department of Psychology. The person in this position provides administrative supervision of the daily activities of the department and its staff.

The person in this position has the complete confidence of the department chair; the work performed by this person is closely identified with the chair's viewpoint and responsibilities; this person represents the chair to external bodies and coordinates the department administration with external units such as the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, the Graduate School, the Provost's Office, Records & Registration, Admissions, and other university departments and outside agencies.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Personnel

• Uses University systems to hire faculty, instructors, supportive professional staff, civil service staff, and student help. Back up for graduate assistant hiring process
• Maintains record of personnel contracts, compensation records (including budget tracking for cost centers), and contingency funding, reporting to department chair all expiring contracts resulting in change of funding to department contingency funding
• Updates personnel files, annual service reports, curriculum vitae
• Manages changes to funding sources of personnel contracts
• Organizes and prioritizes all functions of the departmental office, including hiring, training, supervising, and evaluation of staff, ensuring high level of work quality
• Processes payroll and benefit usage for all members of the department

Office Administration

• Renews annual outside contracts for equipment and memberships
• Contacts outside vendors for products/price, orders and maintains office equipment and supplies, including printing and duplication machinery, and uses P-card credit card to make purchases charged to department cost centers
• Organizes and maintains departmental records and files, conducts record searches, collects and organizes data, prepares confidential data for evaluating faculty teaching/supervision and research, maintains confidential files for Personnel and Advisory Committee
• Supervises equipment inventory, maintains department key control, and submits work orders.
• Coordinates campus visits of colloquium speakers and job candidates
• Supervises the printing and distribution of Psychology newsletters
• Oversees correspondence and arrangements for departmental events

Budget and Accounting

• Maintains and tracks expenditures and balances for all departmental budgets
• Assists chair with budget planning
• Implements and adjusts budget, as needed
• Assigns items to and maintains various special accounts (course fee accounts, research, grants, indirect funds, etc.)
• Handles external contact with business managers in CLAS, The Graduate School, The NIU Foundation, Research and Innovation Partnerships (RIPS), Provost, etc.
• Manages the paperwork for cash advance funds and other research support
• Initiates employee and student reimbursement for travel, purchases, etc.
• Analyzes departmental obligation report to ensure and monitor grant funding changes, expirations, and terminations, and conduct grant effort report biannually
• Communicates with external administrators to attain status of new and renewed grants and contracts
• Consults Sponsored Programs Administration with changes and updates in grant funding

Assistant to the Department Chair

• Manages departmental deadline lists and personnel calendars
• Prepares or helps prepare external reports to external agencies
• Supervises and prepares material for program review and annual reports
• Assists chair with confidential tenure and promotion documents, letters of evaluation, and maintains confidential personnel files for faculty and staff
• Represents chair and other department officers to faculty at large in implementing policy decisions; prepares communications and memoranda to department implementing these decisions
• Originates correspondence and signs independently
• Responds to external requests for information and guidance from on- and off-campus sources
• Represents department at meetings and conferences concerned with administrative procedure, updates in computerization, changes in policy, etc.
• Responds to requests by phone, mail, email or prepares response for chair's signature
• Works with chair/assistant chair coordinating office and lab space; assigns and reassigns keys

Academic Administration

• Handles scholarship budget and processes scholarship awards using NIU scholarship systems
• Enters or oversees creation of the course offerings into MyNIU
• Updates or oversees the updates of the schedule related to changes in course offerings
• Facilitates or oversees manual enrollment and maintains records of students requesting approved enrollment in permit-only classes, students seeking overload permits, and students enrolled via waiting lists

Minimum Required Qualifications (Civil Service)

• High school diploma or equivalent.
• Any one of the following from the categories below:
• Four (4) years (48 months) of work experience comparable to the third level of this series.
• Two (2) years (24 months) of work experience comparable to the fourth level of this series.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs) (Civil Service)

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES (KSAs)

• Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
• Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, leadership technique, and coordination of people and resources.
• Knowledge of administrative and administrative procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, and other office procedures and terminology.
• Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Knowledge of computers and computer systems (including hardware and software) to enter data, or process information.
• Skill in material resources management through obtaining and seeing to the appropriate use of equipment, facilities, and materials needed to do certain work.
• Skill in communicating effectively, both verbally and in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
• Skill in decision making by considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions and choosing the most appropriate one.
• Ability to understand written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
• Ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
• Ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
• Ability to choose the right mathematical methods or formulas to solve a problem.
• Ability to provide guidance and direction to subordinates, including setting performance standards and monitoring performance.

Specialty Factors (Civil Service)

None

Preferred Qualifications (Civil Service)

• Experience with Microsoft Office Suite.
• Previous experience in higher education setting
• Previous experience with financial and HR processes, including PeopleSoft and PeopleAdmin.

Minimum Required Qualifications (SPS)

N/A

Additional Requirements (SPS)

N/A

Preferred Qualifications (SPS)

N/A

Physical demands/requirements

• Sit for extended periods.

Appointment and Compensation Details

Appointment and Compensation Details

Anticipated Appointment Start Date 10/1/26 Anticipated Appointment End Date Percent of Staff Year 1.00 Standard Hours Per Week 37.50 Working Hours 8:00 am - 4:30 pm Monday-Friday, one-hour lunch Salary $37,050.00 - $38,025.00 annually; NIU offers a robust benefits package. Hourly or Semi-monthly Pay Rate/Range $19.00 - $19.50 hours Earn Type Hourly

Application Procedure

Application Procedure

Application Procedure

Application Procedure:

• Fully complete the Education and Work History sections of the application. Be specific on your entire work history, including employment dates and duties for all positions held. Applicable part-time work experience will be considered toward qualifying for this position; however, it will be converted to a full-time equivalency to determine combined length of experience. Important: Please upload any unofficial transcript(s) and/or documentation that verifies any education, experience, and/or training you have received.

• If eligible for Veteran's Preference Points, DD214/DD215/NGB22/DD256 paperwork reflecting an Honorable Discharge MUST be uploaded to this application to receive the maximum eligible points on the Civil Service examination.

• After the posting has closed, your submission will be reviewed to determine if you meet the minimum qualifications for the classification, including any specialty factors associated with this position. If you meet the minimum required qualifications for this position, you will receive a score based on your education and experience, and your name will be placed on the active employment register.

• Please monitor your e-mail for further information regarding your application. Emails will be generated from jobs@niu.edu and CivilServiceTesting@niu.edu. Please add these emails to your address book to ensure timely delivery of any future communication.

• Applicants must be a current citizen or resident of the State of Illinois to move forward in the hiring process.

Credentials Assessment Examination:

• The examination for this position is a Credentials Assessment and is based on your application materials as submitted for this posting. A Credential Assessment is a rating by the Human Resources Office of an applicant's education, experience, and special credentials/qualifications (licenses, etc.). Applicants are required to upload documentation to verify the minimum qualifications for this position have been met.
• Required documentation noted in the posting, such as a driver's license, licensures, or certifications MUST be uploaded with your application materials.
• After assessment of all qualified applicants has been completed for this position, the names with the top three (3) scores will be referred to the hiring department for interview.

Additional Details:

• Click on Office Administrator for more information including salary ranges, typical duties, minimum acceptable qualifications, and testing requirements.
• Please click on Human Resource Services - Benefits for detailed information about Northern Illinois University's benefits package.
• Employment is contingent upon your passing a criminal background investigation. You may not begin work until the criminal background investigation results have been received and cleared by Human Resources.

Special Instructions Quick Link to Applicant https://employment.niu.edu/postings/96370 Is Background Check Required? Yes EEO Statement Summary

In accordance with applicable statutes and regulations, NIU is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, religion, age, disability (physical and mental), marital status, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender (identity and expression), political affiliation, or any other factor unrelated to professional qualifications, and will comply with all applicable federal and state statutes, regulations and orders pertaining to nondiscrimination, equal opportunity and affirmative action.

The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding the non-discrimination policies:

Ethics and Compliance Officer, Title IX Coordinator

Health Services Building Room 230

TitleIXCoordinator@niu.edu

815-753-5560

Visa Policy

In compliance with federal law, all persons hired will be required to verify identity and eligibility to work in the United States and to complete the required employment eligibility verification document form upon hire.

ADA Accommodation

NIU remains committed to ensuring that its recruitment and application procedures include full opportunities for applicants with disabilities. Employment opportunities will not be denied to anyone because of the need to make accommodations for a person's disability during either the application or interview process. An applicant who believes they require an accommodation to participate in the employment process due to a disability may request that accommodation through the Accommodation Request Form. For further assistance, please contact the office of Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity (AAEO) at ada@niu.edu.

Safety Information

NIU provides annual reports on campus security and fire safety.

Read the Annual Security and Fire Safety Report.

Contact the Ethics and Compliance Office at 815-753-9364 for a hard copy.

Applicant Documents

Required Documents

• Resume/Curriculum Vitae
• Cover Letter
• List of at least 3 Professional References

Optional Documents

• Transcripts (unofficial with official required at hire)
• Military Discharge Documents ONLY (DD214/DD215/NGB22/DD256)
• Other

Supplemental Questions

Required fields are indicated with an asterisk (*).

• • Are you currently a citizen or resident of the State of Illinois?

• Yes

• No

• • What is the highest level of education attained?

• GED

• High School Diploma

• Associates Degree

• Bachelors Degree

• Masters Degree

• PHD

• Have you attached all transcripts to support the degrees you are submitting for consideration?

• Yes

• No

• • How many years of experience do you have in this type of position?

• 0-1

• 1-3

• 3-5

• 5-7

• 7+

• • Please provide the name of the employer and the dates of employment where you gained this experience. Please note that this information must be verified on an NIU application and/or résumé. ("See Résumé" is not an acceptable response.)

(Open Ended Question)

• • If applicable, have you attached a copy of your DD214, DD215, NGB22, or DD256 for consideration of Veterans Preference Points? The copy submitted should reflect the status of discharge in order to be considered.
• Yes
• No
• Not Applicable