Senior Program Assistant

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Job no: 530201
Position Type: Staff Part Time
Campus: UMass Boston
Department: CLA - Dean's Office
Pay Grade: 30
Date opened: 01 Sep 2026 Eastern Daylight Time
Applications close: 15 Sep 2026 Eastern Daylight Time

General Summary

The part-time (.75 FTE) Senior Program Assistant provides a wide range of complex organizational, administrative, and professional duties to the Office of the Director of the John W. McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies (MGS) in the College of Liberal Arts. The Senior Program Assistant reports to the Director of the McCormack Graduate School (MGS). The incumbent is primarily responsible for the coordination of the program and funding opportunities that the MGS provides to the faculty and students in the departments and centers within the School.

The incumbent provides support in faculty and student support initiatives known as the Director’s Office Student Success (DOSS) and the Director’s Office Faculty Fund for Advancing Research (DOFFAR) programs. The Program Assistant supports the successful operation of the School by providing administrative support to the Director’s Office and supervision of work-study students or any hourly employee in the School. Working in collaboration with the director, other staff members, department chairs, and center directors, the incumbent assists with the planning and execution of special events such as organization-wide meetings, employee recognition events, graduation, seminars, and other celebrations.

The program assistant also coordinates with the CLA Dean’s Office and department staff members on scheduling and aligning calendars and events. The Program Assistant serves as a leader in ensuring operational efficiency in the faculty and student support initiatives that the School offers. The incumbent also serves as a liaison to departments and centers within the School for initiatives that the School launches in collaboration with the units within the School.

Examples of Duties:

• Coordinate the MGS’s Director’s Office Faculty Fund for Advancing Research (known as DOFFFAR), which includes individual faculty support as well as faculty collaboration for interdisciplinary research. Present applications for review;
• Coordinate the MGS’s Director’s Office Student Success (DOSS) program, student research funding programs (e.g., DOSS Travel, SEA), and present applications for review;
• Work with the Centers and Programs in the MGS to coordinate events and other activities that the Centers and Programs undertake throughout the year;
• Coordinate internship programs that the MGS supports through the DOSS program. The internship programs include Civic Action Project (CAP), Loporchio, Werby, and others;
• Work with the CLA Dean’s Office to assist with the Dean’s Research Fund (DRF) and Graduate Summer Research Support (GSSR) by creating and updating application forms and providing support to track applications;
• Work with the Director of Marketing and Communications in the preparation and distribution of MGS communications; identify appropriate staff regarding media inquiries; contribute to the design and content of brochures, pamphlets and newsletters;
• Provide administrative support to the Director of the McCormack Graduate School (MGS); receive and direct internal and external phone and e
  -mail inquiries and, when necessary, field inquiries to appropriate staff person; receive, sort and distribute mail; maintain and create general files and records, including archival information; take minutes of meetings, when appropriate;
• Coordinate and/or attend meetings with the Director and provide administrative expertise, as required; order food for Director’s meetings when necessary;
• Coordinate with the Executive Assistant to the CLA dean on scheduling and aligning calendars and events;
• Coordinate with MGS department staff on scheduling and aligning calendars and events;
• Maintain the School’s website in collaboration with the CLA and University-level website team and make the necessary changes to the website;
• Coordinat…