Academic Program Specialist I

Academic Program Specialist I

Bachelor's degree and two years of relevant experience; or an equivalent combination of education and experience.

The position, located within the Department of Epidemiology, jointly housed in the colleges of Public Health and Health Professions (PHHP) and the College of Medicine (COM), serves as the Academic Program Specialist for the PhD in Epidemiology program, the Master of Science in Epidemiology (MSE) program, and the Certificate in Psychiatric Epidemiology.

Reporting to the Director of the PhD program and indirectly to the Assistant Director of Administrative Services, the incumbent engages in daily interactions with current and prospective students, faculty, and external stakeholders. This highly professional role demands a commitment to maintaining confidentiality, providing exceptional customer service, and exercising independent judgment. The incumbent plays a crucial role as the primary contact for prospective and current Epidemiology graduate and certificate students and facilitates communication with departmental faculty, other administrative staff, and leadership, ensuring the seamless functioning of departmental operations. As part of the administrative staff of the department, the incumbent will coordinate with other departmental staff and take part in all required departmental activities and shared responsibilities.

Recruitment and Admissions:
Act as primary staff recruiter for graduate students by developing, maintaining production, and distributing graduate recruitment materials (brochures and posters), organizing and participating in student recruitment activities such as open houses, involving data tracking, extraction, and reporting. Use SLATE to review and manage online applications for admission to the PhD in Epidemiology program and the Master of Science in Epidemiology (MSE) program. Compile prospective student files, coordinate graduate admissions reviews, and process graduate student admissions files. Generate Graduate Research Assistant offer letters for prospective graduate students and monitor appointments in the system. Manage the I-20 process for international applicants to the degree program. Provide timely and accurate information to current and prospective students, faculty, and others related to areas of responsibility.

Program Management:
Aid applicants and students with questions, forms, course registration, advertising of departmental courses, etc. Oversee student registration for all department courses. Responsible for the procurement of course-related materials (e.g., textbooks, reprints). Ensure completion of course textbook adoption. Ensure syllabi are completed and posted on a timely basis, per UF policy. Provide guidance on Canvas functionality to new faculty, as needed. Provide students with general information about course and program requirements. Triage inquiries to appropriate respondents. Send out materials and refer prospective students to website locations as needed. Assist the Program Director and Curriculum Committee chairs with student credit transfers and submit necessary documents to the graduate school.

Provide support to the PhD Program Director with PhD Quarterly meetings and PhD in Epidemiology Professional Development Series. Act as coordinator for the Curriculum Committee, including arranging meetings and taking minutes. Collaborate with faculty on course schedules. Maintaining a deadline calendar and ensuring students and faculty are meeting all college and university deadlines related to their courses. Reserve classrooms for each class; develop a matrix of all courses, their times, and days of the week to ensure minimal to no overlap of our PhD and Master's-level programs.

Handle all scheduling of committee meetings or events related to the Programs, such as Curriculum, Admissions, New Student Orientation, Faculty Mentor Orientation, and faculty/staff/student socials.

Coordinate scheduling of PhD milestone exams, including the Written Preliminary Exam, Written and Oral Area Exams, Dissertation Proposal Defense, and Final Dissertation Defense. Create and distribute announcements about final dissertation defenses. Attend milestone exams as requested. Organize the A/V set-up for oral exams, committee meetings, and program meetings in the Clinical and Translational Research Building (CTRB) and throughout PHHP as needed.

Ensure students and faculty mentors complete the mandatory individual development plan (IDP) and monitoring plans.

Responsible for ensuring annual updates for the PhD and MSE student handbooks. Promptly work in partnership with faculty to complete University Curriculum Committee 1 and University Curriculum Committee 2 forms for new and revised courses and follow the tracking for curriculum approvals.

Organize the annual new student orientation of PhD Epidemiology, MS Epidemiology, and MPH Epidemiology students. This includes reserving the room, drafting the agenda, contacting and arranging the speakers, conducting/planning ice-breaking or team-building activities, catering food, and putting together orientation materials and departmental swag for new students.

Ensure course evaluations are assigned and then received and distributed to individual faculty members, the Curriculum Committee, and the Chair.

Administration:
Prepare letters of appointment, renewal letters, and addendums for all Graduate Assistants. Enter online letters of appointment accurately in PeopleSoft. Ensure that letter details are correct and that signatures are obtained on time. Work with faculty members to guarantee funding for graduate students.

Collaborate with faculty members and Assistant Director of Administrative Services to resolve any funding or related issues. Responsible for providing letters of appointment, renewal letters, and addendums to Human Resources Generalist for processing job actions in PeopleSoft.

Access and manage academic student system documents (GIMS, Student Admin). Maintain student database from the beginning of the course; manage all student files for the MS in Epidemiology program, PhD in Epidemiology program, and certificate programs.

Enter and maintain all departmental instructional data in Academic Activities Reporting (AAR) system. Ensure that data is entered on time and correctly. Correct any errors in AAR system to allow proper effort allocations and certification.

Provide the Program Director with data when required for mandatory reporting, including annual Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) reporting. Fulfill report requests related to the department’s graduate programs specific to enrollment, admissions, withdrawals, and other relevant inquiries.

Assist with website articles, photos and auditing content periodically for accuracy and updated information.

$60,000 - $65,000 commensurate with education, skills, and experience.

The University of Florida (UF) offers an exceptional benefits package, including health, dental and vision insurance; state retirement plans; a generous leave program; and tuition assistance. UF is a Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) eligible employer. For more information on benefits, please visit UF HR Benefits and Rewards at https://benefits.hr.ufl.edu/.

• Demonstrates initiative by anticipating problems and to proactively propose solutions.
• Essential knowledge including course management system, university system, and registrations systems.
• Previous experience working with students, faculty, or project coordination.
• Excellent communication, organizational, and computer skills (including the MS Office Suite). Experience with Web navigation tools and programs.
• Must be able to work as part of a team and independently, maintain confidentiality, and exercise good judgment at all times.
• Experience working in a research or academic setting is desirable.
• Willingness and ability to learn new tasks. High level of attention to detail is essential.
• Must be able to interact with faculty, staff, and visitors – in person, via written communications, and on the telephone – with a high degree of professionalism.
• Proficient in using standard office equipment. Provide strong customer service to students and faculty in the support of department academic programs.