Events Coordinator, School of Journalism

Event Coordinator

Reporting to the Director of Communications at UC Berkeley Journalism, the Events Coordinator assists with planning, organizing, and implementing school events. The position supports the Advancement Team with external public programs and alumni events, as well as internal community events for students, staff, and faculty. Responsibilities include coordinating small or non‑complex events, managing logistics, providing administrative support, and ensuring all events adhere to campus procedures.

Event Logistics & Execution

• Coordinate small/non-complex school events and assigned portions of larger events, including public programs, student-facing events, graduation-related activities, receptions, VIP briefings, and internal school events.
• Manage event logistics, including room reservations, catering, facility requests, A/V coordination, supplies, signage, registration, guest lists, RSVP tracking, and day-of setup.
• Set up or coordinate volunteer room preparation (set up or take down chairs, microphones, run in-house AV).
• Serve as the on-site point of contact for routine event logistics for assigned events, coordinating with vendors, guests, speakers, staff, faculty, students, and campus partners.
• Provide logistical details to attendees, speakers, and guests, including schedules, arrival instructions, parking/transportation, accessibility information, and event flow.
• Escalate sensitive VIP, donor, speaker, high-profile guest, policy-related, safety/security, or budget-impacting issues to the supervisor or appropriate school leadership.

Event Administration, Compliance, and Budget Tracking

• Track event expenses, gather cost estimates, process routine purchasing/payment requests, and monitor spending against approved budgets.
• Process event-related administrative paperwork, including vendor forms, purchase requests, reimbursement materials, facilities requests, permits, certificates of insurance, and other required campus documentation.
• Support contract, permit, and insurance processes under the supervisor's direction and in accordance with campus policies and procedures.
• Report event statistics/data in the Cal Advancement Data System (CADS) and maintain accurate event records, attendance data, and post-event documentation.

Communications, Policy and Process Support

• Produce and distribute event flyers; create social media posts.
• Communicate routine event policies, procedures, timelines, and planning requirements to school staff and event partners.
• Monitor and respond to departmental/event-related emails or route inquiries to the appropriate staff member.
• Maintain event planning templates, checklists, calendars, process documents, and shared event resources.
• Update assigned event-related website content, calendar listings, registration pages, or internal planning materials as needed.

Event Staffing and Operational Support

• Coordinate approved student assistant, volunteer, and staff support for events; provide day-of direction for assigned tasks.
• Assist with staffing schedules and serve as an on-site liaison for vendors, colleagues, and speakers during assigned events.
• Maintain a working knowledge of team event processes to provide backup support for other school events and related operational needs.
• Participate in training, process improvement, and team efforts that support inclusive, effective, and accessible events.

Other duties as assigned.

• Working knowledge of concepts, principles, and practices of event planning and production, and public relations.
• Knowledge of the campus, its programs, policies, mission, goals, achievements, and infrastructure.
• Excellent organizational skills, including effective coordination of multiple details.
• Effective calendar management and student and/or volunteer scheduling.
• Good interpersonal communication skills and political acumen to represent the campus to its publics.
• Good judgment, effective decision-making, and problem resolution skills, including recognition of issues that require escalation.
• Ability to work in diverse groups, including students, staff, faculty, general public, production personnel, technical operators, and performing…