Senior Academic Administrator

at  Massey University

Job Description
Senior Academic Administrator
College of Humanities and Social Sciences
Position Purpose: Provides comprehensive, high quality academic administrative support as
required for the College for the effective delivery, maintenance and
governance of the college’s academic portfolio, enabling effective engagement
with internal and external stakeholders, strategic priorities and programmes of
work.
To engage in ongoing development of work request systems/processes and
new ways of performing academic administrative work and support awareness
and uptake by managers and staff.
To provide technical guidance to Academic Administrators on any aspect of
the work.
Department: Office of the Pro Vice-Chancellor (PVC)
Location: Manawatū
Reports to: College Academic Manager or Academic Administration Team Lead
(depending upon College structure)
Responsible for:
Delegations: Band D
Job Title: Senior Administrator - Academic
Key relationships: Internal External
College staff Institutional partners
Members of the General and Academic Government agencies
Administration Teams Students
Heads of School/Unit/Associate Deans
Office of Quality Reporting and
Assurance (OQRA)
Service lines staff
Massey University: We are a world-leading university in many academic disciplines and fields of
research. Our point of difference is research that is connected to community
and industry. Our researchers are developing expertise and skills to advance
human knowledge and understanding. Working together across disciplines and
locations, we solve national and global problems through fundamental, applied
and interdisciplinary research, while culturally and artistically enriching our
world.
We are deeply committed to being a Te Tiriti-led university, demonstrating
authentic leadership in contemporary Aotearoa New Zealand as we uphold Te
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Tiriti o Waitangi, the founding document of our nation, and its principles
through our practice. We embrace this not just as an obligation but as a real
opportunity for the nation and its people.
Our educators are preparing a new generation of global leaders. Our students
are diverse and are attracted to Massey because they want to achieve their
personal goals or make their mark in the world. They experience world-class
learning that recognises their intellectual and cultural strengths, expands their
horizons and prepares them to contribute to a rapidly transforming world with
skills, critical and creative thinking and leadership.
We will be renowned for our passion and caring attitude. All Massey campuses
will be innovation ecosystems, acting as magnets for smart enterprises.
Wherever we are, we will operate in partnerships founded on respect, trust
and mutual benefit. Massey is not only defined by what we do, but by how we
do it.
About this area The College of Humanities and Social Sciences – Te Kura Pūkenga Tangata
pursues teaching and research in a wide range of disciplines and has a strong
commitment to academic citizenship. As an innovative College, we foster deep
connections across Massey and develop relevant and valued research, teaching
and entrepreneurship in partnership with agencies and communities. We are
deeply committed to being a Te Tiriti-led college, demonstrating authentic
leadership in contemporary Aotearoa New Zealand as we uphold Te Tiriti o
Waitangi, the founding document of our nation, and its principles through our
practice.
Massey core capabilities
At Massey we are Tiriti-led, upholding Te Tiriti o Waitangi principles through our practice, we:
 Demonstrate awareness of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and its contribution to Aotearoa New Zealand society
 Understand the relevance of Te Tiriti o Waitangi in relation to the work of the University and the people
we serve
 Embrace Te Reo in relevant and practical ways in our workplace interactions and engagement with
external stakeholders, giving expression to Tikanga Māori and protocols that demonstrate that we respect
and value Māori conventions in appropriate settings
At Massey we work together with mutual respect and caring. We:
 Act with integrity and trustworthiness and give credit to others for the work they do
 Work cooperatively and inter-dependently to foster and promote the One University approach
 Share knowledge and communicate professionally with courtesy and mutual respect
 Are ethical in all transactions, working within the parameters of our policies and procedures
 Are direct, truthful and maintain confidentiality
 Seek to understand and appreciate our differences
 Are ethical in all transactions, working within the parameters of our policies and procedures
 Are direct, truthful and maintain confidentiality
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
Seek to understand and appreciate our differences
 Keep ourselves and others safe; work together to embrace with the University’s health, safety and
wellbeing policies, procedures and programmes; display commitment by actively supporting all safety and
wellbeing initiatives, and by actively engaging in health and safety improvement opportunities
At Massey we are future-focused, results-oriented and strive for excellence. We:
 Take ownership and responsibility for delivering results to support achievement of university objectives
 Provide the best quality services to our customers (internal and external) ensuring our students/
stakeholders are at the heart of everything we do
 Deliver or support world-class research, teaching and learning and citizenship
 Take personal responsibility for our performance, take pride in doing our job well, and commit to
ongoing personal and professional development
 Are motivated and create a positive working environment where our values are reinforced
 Anticipate and respond with agility and resilience to the changing needs of the university and the
communities we serve
 Seek ways to improve our services to deliver in an efficient and effective way
 Embrace technology and apply this innovatively to better meet the needs of those we serve
 Challenge ourselves to reach our potential and help bring out the best in others
 Understand how what we do contributes to the objectives of the university
Accountabilities
Mix of duties may vary A Senior Academic Administrator may be required to undertake a range and mix of
academic administrative tasks to a high level of proficiency and without significant
supervision and may be highly specialised in one or few academic administrative
areas, commensurate with the needs of the college/service which may change from
time to time.
A Senior Academic Administrator is required to provide technical and professional
guidance and advice to academic administrative colleagues on all facets of
administrative academic support work.
Building on the Academic Administrator accountabilities, a Senior Academic
Administrator may undertake a mix of accountability areas, or specialisation to a
highly proficient level, in one or more areas is expected and may be varied during the
university year to reflect work demands, staff changes, staff absences etc including:
 Governance
 Undergraduate Academic Administration
 Postgraduate Academic Administration
 Admission/Selection
 Placements/Work Integrated Learning (WiL)
 School Support
 Other Specialised Academic Administration (to be specified as appropriate)
A Senior Academic Administrator may be engaged in one or few specific areas, with
the mutual expectation of gaining experience in additional areas over time.
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Support of the Academic • Support the college’s academic portfolio and associated governance processes
Portfolio through oversight of the Student Management System (SMS), Curriculum
Management System (CMS) and associated committees, regulations and

documentation as it relates to the college’s academic profile.

• Deliver accurate and timely management of student records and the processes to

ensure student progression is as seamless as possible and completed in a timely
manner for the student, managing any issues arising and deal with exceptions
and new processes or requirements in a professional and consistent manner;
manage any issues arising and deal with exceptions in a professional and

consistent manner.

• Ensure strong adherence to the quality assurance of processes and records, for

SMS and CMS Curriculum Management as well as Timetabling processes for the

college including support of these processes within schools/units

• Support the annual college Qualification Planning and Availability Process
• Support the OQRA and Chair(s) of College Board Chair and affiliated

committee(s), PVC/DPVC timely preparation of the agenda and meeting materials
for Academic Programme Committee and College Board and preparation of

documents that must progress to Academic Committee for approval or noting

• Support the management of committee membership according to applicable

Terms of Reference.

• Promote awareness and adoption of new and emergent University-approved

technologies, tools and processes for undertaking academic administrative work
Academic Administrative • Provide academic administrative support for the college, its managers and staff
Support/ Course and including the maintenance and retrieval of data necessary for academic
Programme programme management
Management/ Student • Liaise with managers and staff at all levels, to establish and maintain personal in-
Admission, progression, depth understanding of the university and area academic structures, functions,

placement, completion priorities and practices

• Develop comprehensive understandings of key university academic policies and

business systems and be the local expert on their operation and consistent

application to the area’s academic processes and procedures

• Support processes required for submission new and revised courses,

specialisations and qualifications/course changes and deletions

• Support academic record-keeping requirements in accordance with university

policies and standards; maintain an efficient electronic filing/retrieval and
archiving system for area information and data, in conformance with university

standards

• Support programme accreditation processes and academic audit programmes

and processes

• Actively identify areas for process improvement and provide input to College

Academic Manager/Academic Administration Team Lead on priorities for pan-

university development in academic administration

• Support the Timetabling process for the college and subsequent data analysis
• Support academic website management
• Support correspondence for individual students or cohorts of students as

required by admission/selection/accreditation processes or changes in
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programmes, examination procedures, transition procedures, changes in

regulations

• Support examination processes for all college courses including:

o Review and submission of course grades for all college courses
o Ensuring completion of all change of grade forms, return of examination
scripts, and oversight of all appeals for Aegrotats (AEGs), Impaired

Performance (IPs), etc

• Provision of data to inform and manage Low and No Enrolment courses
• Support process for course cancellations and associated transfer of students
• Monitoring of course opening / availability (on Stream Sites)

Areas of more specialised Selection / Admission
support/management(as Timely, effective advice and administrative support is provided on all aspects of
required) student selection and placements, policy and procedures.
 Maintain relevant student selection and placement databases, prepare reports
as required (e.g. enrolment progress); identify opportunities for process or
database improvements
 Provide administrative support for all selected entry applications, including
liaising with students in regard to outstanding documentation, completing
vetting and safety checking requirements of students in accordance with The
Children’s Act 2014 and ensuring health and immunity checks are completed for
relevant programmes
 Receive and forward cross credit applications and Recognition of Prior Learning
(RPL) requests to appropriate Programme/Specialisation leads and subsequently
securing an academic decision and notifying the student and Academic
Administration of the outcome
 Ensure additional documentation for selected entry requirements e.g., health
screening, first aid, IELTS has been correctly submitted and applications

forwarded to appropriate academic staff member

• Placement

Students are placed in relevant placements and external stakeholder relationships
are maintained.
 Administratively support Student Placements (and related
contracts/agreements) within the College; maintain relationships and
collaborative links with relevant external organisations, industry partners and
placement providers
 Assess student’s eligibility for student placements, professional experience or
Work Integrated Learning (WIL) placements against subject pre-requisites and
pre-placement requirements and liaise with relevant external agencies or
University staff to ensure pre-placement requirements are met; place local and
overseas students in placements according to course requirements
 Provide administrative support for placements as required including student
placement events and induction programmes, assisting with student
placement forms and applications, and maintaining records of practicum hours

for each student

• Undergraduate Programmes / Postgraduate Programmes

Student progress is supported and relevant records/processes are maintained.
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
Manage correspondence for individual students or cohorts of students as
required by changes in programmes, examination procedures, transition
procedures, changes in regulations
 Provide updates on undergraduate/postgraduate student enrolment,
progression, transitions
 Provide academic administrative advice to students related to their programme
of study; provide induction and administrative advice to postgraduate students
including desking, computer rentals etc as appropriate
 Provide updates on postgraduate student’s applications, enrolment, progression
(including status of 6 monthly reports, and scholarship and award status); assist

with associated events for college postgraduate cohort including STREAM site

• Governance

Provide administrative support to academic programme committees within the
college and aligned responsibilities to University-level committees (Academic
Committee/Teaching and Learning Committee/Academic Board) and processes
(qualification reviews/ graduating year reviews/ CUAP processes)
 Manage the college processes and associated committees and documentation
required for Academic Governance and the use of the Curriculum Management
System (CMS) and Student Management System (SMS) to support these
processes and ensure enactment through follow-up of academic governance
decisions
 Ensure college academic governance committees follow accurate processes that
meet legislative and Massey University policy requirements; facilitate inter-
college collaboration and consultation on academic proposals
 Management of college courses, specialisations and qualifications in Curriculum
Management System including assisting administrators in initiation of proposal

templates and associated proposal development groups

• School Support

Support of course, specialisations and programme-related activities aligned to

schools/units.

• Manage academic administrative tasks associated with all courses, specialisations

and qualifications administered by a unit. Act as course lead in Curriculum
Management to support course development/change/deletion processes/credit
assessment requests and alignment of these course changes with its operation
within the SMS environment. Assist in the preparation of any requirements for
Qualification Reviews, Graduating Year Reviews and any accreditation processes

for all qualifications within the unit.

• Manage processes and records associated with student performance and progress

for all courses administered by a unit (to assist academic staff and HoS as Chief
Examiner) including the preparation of course results to be provided for review by
College-wide Examinations and Student Performance Review Committee and
subsequent grade publication. Assist with completion of all exceptional
circumstances requests for all courses administered by the unit.
Secretariat to  Support key academic committees as required, managing complex tasks such as:
Committees  Providing guidance and advice to staff who seek to submit papers or proposals for
(as required) the committee meeting
 Preparing meeting agenda and associated paperwork on a timely and accurate
manner
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
Setting up and distributing annual committee meeting timetable
 Undertaking urgent actions on behalf of the committee/s as requested by the
Chair/s.
 Communicating decisions taken from the meetings and follow up as required.
 Advising Chair/s and committee members on adherence to Terms of Reference
and observance of Standing Orders.
 Manage committee documentation in a manner that reflects the requirements for
accuracy, reliability, transparency, and timeliness, including maintaining practice
which reflects the policy of the University Offices (including retrieval and
archiving), privacy law and the Local Government, Official Information and
Meetings Act
People and Process  Work to ensure appropriate operating systems and processes in place
Improvement  Support process improvement and communication of new processes/policies
across the College
 Ensure area adherence to people-processes, consistent with university policies
and procedures
Relationship  Proactively liaise with administrative colleagues in assigned team/area and other
Management colleges/services as necessary to ensure current and future support requirements
are understood; raise any academic support issues to the College Academic
Manager/or College Executive Manager
 Maintain positive and collaborative professional relationships and networks
across the University, including but not limited to Colleges and Schools, Office of
Quality Reporting and Assurance, Student Management Systems, Student
Registry, ITS, Timetabling Office
 Seek out and respond to direction from the College Executive Manger/or College
Academic Manager and communicate any emergent issues or needs arising within
their assigned area
 Demonstrate manaakitanga in directing students to services as required
 Support successful and compliant organisation of college academic-related
events
 Exercise diplomacy, confidentiality, and sensitivity when building and managing
relationships
Qualifications and Experience
Qualifications:  A relevant tertiary qualification is desirable.
Experience:  * Previous experience working in a culturally responsive environment is

essential (* variation to be utilised as required).

• Supporting teams and programmes to embed Māori principles and

practices is desirable (* variation to be utilised as required).
 Demonstrated relevant work experience in academic administration
 Demonstrated knowledge of academic qualifications, specialisations
and courses and regulatory and quality assurance requirements for
programme development and maintenance
 Experience of working in a Tertiary Education Institute is desirable
 Demonstrated experience working with large numbers of stakeholders
 Project coordination – proven experience in managing multiple
projects/initiatives at the same time is essential
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
Familiarity with University systems and processes (preferred)
Capabilities - Behaviour
Communication  Develops a clear, complete understanding of needs and problems
through careful listening, probing, reflecting, and summarising; confirms
Essential understanding by restating others’ positions
 Timely written and oral communications that produce clear and complete
communication; recognises which communications need to be formalised
to provide clarity, including when escalation is required
 Leads discussions in a respectful manner, that are sincere and
professional
 Able to address broad audiences and stakeholder groups, working with
communication plans and a mix of communication methods; analyses
audiences to understand their composition and perspectives
 Able to present information clearly, concisely and logically; varies
content, style and form to suit the subject
Working Together  Establishes, maintains and models productive working relationships with
Essential key stakeholders internally and externally
 Establishes and maintains credibility and appropriate confidentiality with
stakeholders
 Proactively identifies and addresses potential issues with stakeholders
 Works to resolves conflict and other obstacles to team performance to
improve programme/portfolio performance
Continuous  Implements new systems, procedures and tools efficiently when changes
Transformation occur in the work environment
Essential  Works with agility, adjusting current working processes or adopting new
approaches in response to changes in the organisation environment
 Seeks challenging opportunities or assignments to grow and develop
one’s own knowledge, skills and abilities
 Uses digital tools to innovate programme, processes, systems or services
 Communicates and analyses assumptions about a particular issue with
colleagues to gain new perspectives or more effective solutions
 Explains lessons or experiences learned from mistakes and failures as well
as successes
Delivering Results  Maintains focus on critical work and expectations; helps others drive
Essential tasks to completion as appropriate
 Supports others /the team during change by encouraging flexibility,
demonstrating the positives, and finding opportunities for the team or
others to get involved
 Able to track and complete agreed work in planned timeframes
 Takes responsibility for escalating issues that impact on planned work and
outcomes
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
Documents how results were obtained to support knowledge transfer
and best practices
 Coaches others to develop effective techniques for producing expected
results
 Supports self during change by remaining flexible, focusing on the
positives, and proactively seeking out opportunities to get involved
Service Centric  Acts with the internal/external stakeholder or customer in mind, seeks to
Essential understand and deliver on customer perceptions and expectations
 Contributes to building a culture of service excellence within team,
teaching others as needed
 Able to anticipate and respond to common stakeholder needs and
problems or escalate if required
 Engages and collaborates with users to provide accessible, fit for purpose
solutions and adjusts focus or approach when required to respond to
changing user needs
 Provides a level of customer centric service excellence that contributes to
the college objectives
Staff and Career • Develops learning program for closing own short- and long-term

Development competency gaps; clarifies own career aspirations

• Clarifies own career aspiration
• Determines individual and team competency requirements,

vulnerabilities, and learning needs

• Seeks opportunities that meet developmental needs of self or associates

Capabilities - Technical
Te Ao Māori  * Has some foundation skills and understanding of the provision of Te Tiriti
Essential o Waitangi, Te Reo language, Tikanga and Kawa and is willing to develop
these further (* variation to be utilised as required).
Accuracy and  Identifies tasks or outputs that require accuracy and detail-level
Attention to attention; provides guidance in documenting pertinent information
Detail  Processes large amounts of detailed information with good accuracy
Essential  Utilises specific approaches and tools for checking and cross-checking
outputs
 Develops and uses checklists to ensure that information goes out error-
free
 Accurately gauges the impact and cost of errors, omissions, and
oversights
 Learns from mistakes and applies lessons learned
 Employs techniques for motivating personnel to meet/exceed accuracy
goals
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Digital Skills  Competence and confidence in using core systems Massey University
Essential  Proficient in the use of Microsoft Word, Excel, Outlook and PowerPoint
 Proficient in the use of scheduling and calendar tools
 Intermediate experience in the use of SharePoint, can coach others in the
use of SharePoint
 Performs file management tasks such as folder management and controlled
document administration
Planning and • Contributes to short-term operational plans ensuring they align with long
Project term plans and strategies
Administration • Documents initial plans and estimates for simple projects; monitors
Essential progress of work against plan as required to meet objectives; assists with

preparation of reports, communication and project documentation

• Facilitates development of team objectives and plans with team members
• Anticipates and adapts to plan changes

Priority Setting
 Describes team or unit priorities and how they relate to roles
Essential  Demonstrates an expectation that there will be ongoing shifts in demands
and priorities
 Clarifies and handles multiple concurrent and diverse activities
 Addresses potential conflicts that impact current delivery commitments
 Works with or leads others to re-prioritise work and reschedule
commitments as necessary
 Responds to shifting priorities while maintaining progress of regularly
scheduled work
Problem Solving  Examines a specific problem and understands the perspective of each
Desirable  involved stakeholder
 Identifies and documents specific problems and resolution alternatives
 Uses initiative to develop alternative techniques for assessing accuracy
and relevance of information
 Helps to analyse risks and benefits of alternative approaches and obtain
decision on resolution
Pre-employment checks
Pre-employment checks:  Requirement to pass a Criminal and Traffic Convictions (Security)
Essential Check performed by the Ministry of Justice
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Please refer the Job description for details