Academic Assistant II

The person in this is responsible for the continuing communication with graduate faculty, administrative personnel, and graduate students to exchange information concerning student academic programs in relation to policies and regulations of the State of Florida, the Board of Trustees, the University of Florida, the Graduate School, and the Graduate Council.

This requires extensive knowledge of master s, engineer, specialist, and doctoral degree programs offered through more than 160 academic units.

This employee reviews and processes degree program files and academic records of students participating in concurrent and nontraditional doctoral/master s programs.

This works as a team member of the Graduate Student Records staff within the Graduate School.

Essential functions of this include: VALIDATION OF GRADUATE DEGREE PROGRAM AND MAINTENANCE OF CERTIFICATION RECORDS Knowledge of and computer use of NERCICS system, Microsoft Office Professional, and E-mail systems are required.

Maintenance of certification records includes a computer database and hard copies.

Each graduate student s academic program must be monitored and validated each term during processing of grade reports and registration.

This includes proper registration for students completing their degree requirements.

Grade point averages and the number of hours earned must be monitored for candidates.

The student's academic unit must be notified, in writing, of any deficiencies.

The written notification is only a first step in the final validation process, which includes assisting faculty, administrative staff, and students in removing any deficiencies in time for each degree certification.

This may involve reviewing petitions initiated by an academic unit and college on the behalf of a graduate degree candidate requesting a waiver of a particular Graduate Council policy in accordance with specific parameters outlined by the Graduate School s Administrative unit, verifying degrees earned, verifying grade changes, and other appropriate degree program milestones like the timely submission of a thesis, project-in-lieu-of-a-thesis, dissertation and or the completion of a final comprehensive examination for specific non-thesis master s degree programs by published deadlines, The validation process must be completed for approximately 1300-2300 candidates for graduation each semester.

Maintenance of the graduate degree list for each semester includes additions and deletions of degree candidates as students applying late are added to the degree list and others are deleted for a number of reasons.

This requires coordinating with the Graduate School Editorial Office those students who have submitted theses (or dissertations) and those who have not.

A final certification of all master's, engineer, specialist, and doctoral degrees, requires coordination with the Registrar's Office to keep the electronic records updated.

The process includes a minimum of three preliminary online degree certification transactions which must be checked for errors.

Troubleshooting is a major function of the electronic process.

Throughout each semester degree certification materials are contributed to the commencement notebook upon request from the team leader.

The notebook includes all items pertinent to the semester's graduation and is used as reference to research any questions that may arise in the future.

This is a critical document for the Graduate Student Records Office.

CONCURRENT AND NONTRADITIONAL DOCTORAL/MASTER S DEGREE PROGRAMS Process applications for Concurrent and or Nontraditional Doctoral/Master s degree programs.

This responsibility includes the review and process of application materials, the education of graduate faculty, graduate students, and administrative staff with respect to procedural protocols and policies.

Material review involves verification of appropriate approval levels and the identification of academic program deficiencies.

Identified issues must be communicated and resolved before documents are forwarded to appropriate parties for final processing.

In addition, employee must correct and or update graduate student degree program data on the Graduate Information Management System as appropriate.

INTERACTION WITH CAMPUS PERSONNEL As the number of students certified each semester has grown with new programs approved by the Graduate Council, the interaction with faculty, administration, and graduate students has increased dramatically.

The exchange of information is coordinated with the Registrar's Office policies as they relate to graduate students and the exchange of information concerns all stages of the student's academic program.

The information given must also comply with the Graduate Council regulations and the University of Florida regulations as stated in the Graduate Catalog.

The increased duties of the Records Office include processing additional types of student paperwork requiring Graduate School approval.

DAILY REGULATION OF STUDENT RECORDS The Records Office maintains a complex system of records defined as confidential under the Family Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA).

Related problems must be analyzed and solutions to administrative procedures recommended.

To assure efficient and confidential handling of graduate student records, the person in this must regulate and review on a daily basis the activities necessary to process, update, and store these records.

Employee must correct and or update graduate student degree program data on the Graduate Information Management System as appropriate.

This responsibility includes but is not limited to adjusting supervisory committee membership/roles, degree program data, and functioning as a liaison between the Office of Graduate Student Records, the Office of Data Management, the Office of Admissions, and the Office of the University Registrar with regard to all elements associated with a student s graduate degree program.

Employee must evaluate data collected for the purpose of satisfying degree program milestones in compliance with Graduate Council policies.

Qualifying examination and admission to candidacy data for doctoral programs must be reviewed before forwarding to the Office of the University Registrar for the addition of transcript remarks.

TRANSFER CREDIT.

Reviews and processes graduate student transfer credit requests from the academic units each semester.

This involves referencing multiple materials including researching the academic program files, evaluating degree program milestones, reviewing qualifying examination and admission to candidacy data for doctoral programs.

Frequent consultation with the Office of Admissions is required throughout the process and before forwarding to the Office of the University Registrar for the addition of transcript remarks.

This process includes the review of course work from UF and Non-UF (domestic and international) institutions, participation in Traveling Scholar, Study Abroad and or Exchange Programs, and specialized degree programs approved by the Graduate Council.

OTHER DUTIES AS ASSIGNED Advertised Salary: Commensurate with Education and Experience Minimum Requirements:High school diploma or equivalent and three years of relevant experience.

This is open to current UF employees only.

Preferred Bachelor s degree preferred.

Excellent customer service, verbal and written communication skills.

Knowledge of NERCICS, Student Admin, IE Web Browser, PeopleSoft (UF Portal), and GIMS.

Proficiency in Microsoft Office Professional and Adobe Acrobat (v 9 or X) software.

Ability to reference multiple data sources to identify problems and resolve discrepancies within established protocols.

Ability to communicate professionally in multiple modalities and a commitment to completing team missions via individual and group efforts.

knowledge of the different master's, engineer, specialist, and doctoral programs and their variances.