Office Assistant

Bethel University has an immediate opening for a part-time Office Assistant working in the Student Development Office.
25 Hours Per Week

The Office Assistant will provide administrative support to the Student Development Office and Department of Religion and Philosophy. You will directly assist the Vice President for Student Development, Dean of Students, Assistant Director for Community Life and the Office Administrator. In addition, you will oversee departmental publications, reservations and chapel operational details.

Responsibilities will include, but not be limited to:

• Answering the telephone and transfers calls or relays messages to the appropriate person; receives visitors and may channel them to the proper party. Coordinates communications and publications or the Student Development Office. Supports other members of the Student Development staff such as resident directors, missionary-in-residence , international student coordinator, and commuter coordinator.
• Manages details related to chapel programming, including communication and hospitality for guest presenters, attendance tracking and accountability.
• Maintains departmental documents for internal and external use, including the Student Handbook, Res Hall guidelines, and manages regular distribution policies and communication.
• Assists in scheduling and maintaining spaces related to Student Life (guest house, conference rooms, etc.).
• Performs other duties as assigned by the Vice President for Spiritual Life and University Affair, Vice President for Student Development, Director of Community Life and Office Administrator.

Expectations:

1. to schedule and organize work to meet established deadlines.
2. To keep all assigned files and records current and well organized, including electronic databases
3. To maintain a friendly, professional work environment and attitude when working with others.
4. To serve as a communication and publication coordinator for the Student Development Office.
5. To oversee the physical office space; to ensure a neat, clean and welcoming environment.

Knowledge and Skills:

Experience:
1. To schedule and organize work to meet established deadlines.
2. To keep all assigned files and records current and well organized, including electronic databases.
3. To maintain a friendly, professional work environment and attitude when working with others.
4. To serve as a communication and publication coordinator for the Student Development Office.

Knowledge and Skills:

Experience: Six months to years of similar or related experience.

Education: A two-year college degree or completion of a specialized course of study at a business or trade school.

Interpersonal Skills: A significant level of trust and diplomacy is required, in addition to normal courtesy and tact. Work involves extensive personal contact with others and/or can be of a personal sensitive nature. Work may involve motivating or influencing others. Outside contacts become important and fostering sound relationships with other entities (companies and/or individuals) becomes necessary.

Other Skills: Good oral and written communication skills; 10-key proficiency; work processing and automated spreadsheet skills required; typing skills; must have proficiency with MS Office (i.e. Word, Outlook, Excel, Power Point); must be able to learn and manage department software (CX/Jenzabar, StarRez, Formstack, Office 365, etc.); must be able to operate general office equipment inciting calculator/10-key, copy machine, telephone; may be required to lift up to 20 pounds. Makes decisions with the strong interpersonal skills as well as strong organizational skills, the ability to multi-task and set priorities. Must be discreet and have the ability to work with confidential information. Serves as a mature Christian role model for students and staff. Must be able to work effectively with adolescents.

Working Conditions
Works in comfortable office surroundings. The office is heavily trafficked, particularly at certain times of the year. Interacts extensively with students, parents, faculty, and staff to handle multiple needs. Must be able to take a problem solving approach to situations in which faculty, staff, students or parents occasionally become frustrated or angry. Ability to troubleshoot, handle stress at times and deadlines is important. Must be able to lift 20 pounds for time to time and climb flights of stairs.

About Bethel University

The mission of Bethel University, affiliated with the Missionary Church denomination, is to be a community of learners dedicated to building lives of commitment for leadership in the Church and world. Bethel's liberating academic programs challenge the mind, enlarge the vision and equip the whole person for lifelong service.

Founded in 1947, Bethel is urban-situated in the northern Indiana region, which is home to 250,000 residents, seven colleges (including the University of Notre Dame), the second largest shopping district in the state of Indiana, 15,000 businesses, 50 parks and beautiful Riverwalk developments in South Bend and Mishawaka. Resort venues on Lake Michigan are just 45 minutes away. The university community is composed of about 1,450 traditional and adult/graduate students from 27 states, and every continent except the poles, with 187 full-time employees. Bethel also hosts more than 8,000 guests annually to arts productions, 25,000 annually in conference services, and many thousands of community members in support of our athletic teams, who have won 40 national championships.

Outside organizations recognize Bethel's quality. The university has been ranked as a Top Tier Midwestern College for 16 consecutive years by U.S. News & World Report; ranked on the Washington Monthly "Best Bang for the Buck Colleges" list; No. 29 in the nation on the College Consensus list of "Best Christian Colleges & Universities 2019". Bethel has also been named to Money Magazine's "Best Colleges for Your Money 2019" list.

Bethel's 20,000 alumni occupy 49 states and 64 world areas, and enjoy a medical school acceptance rate double the national average, 100% job placement rate in Nursing (whose program was ranked No. 7 in the United States), a Top 4% finish nationally in competitive math performance tests, and 100% pass rate every year on the national performance standard for a unique academic major in American Sign Language.

Alumni professional achievements include the No. 1 rated School Superintendent in
Indiana, the No. 1 rated School Principal in Indiana, a Top 1% pediatric surgeon in North America, the former Executive Director of the largest Youth for Christ district in the nation, the Chaplain of former President Barack Obama's childhood school, the lead in "South Pacific" off Broadway in Chicago, a laboratory director in sustainable energy, MLB All-Star Team representatives (Cleveland Indians pitcher Justin Masterson; MLB former pitcher for the San Diego Padres Eric Stults), a senior Midwest manager for Blue Cross / Blue Shield, and among others the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year, Midwest Region, Don Clark.

Faculty accomplishments from Bethel include: an average of more than 100 scholarly presentations and performances each of the last five years, reaching every corner of the United States (including California, Oregon, New York, Washington, D.C., Georgia, Texas) and across the globe (e.g., Kenya, Greece, Israel, Jamaica, France), including elite sites such as Oxford, Cambridge, Aberdeen, and Carnegie Hall. Academic disciplines are deepened by Bethel projects on suffering, shame, the logic of forgiveness, Islam, mentoring, culture shock, health care among the Amish, eating disorders, home births, monotone mathematical triangles, top predator conservation, adolescent readers, capitalism, gene segregation, Great Lakes fisheries, social-linguistic patterns among the LGBT deaf, deviance in American political allies, ecological imagination in American fiction, Russian education, Latino values and education, theater sound and stage design, leadership pressure, the ethics of a Library Bill of Rights, non-violent resistance, simulation learning in Nursing, Shakespeare, depression in cancer patients, race-based tension, art exhibits in every medium, choral and instrumental productions of great variety, and more.

In the past three years, the number of completed freshmen applications for admission has increased 18% and the number of first-time, full-time freshmen has increased 22% from 249 to 303. New academic majors have been added in Computer Science, Cyber Security, Christian Leadership, English as a New Language and Marketing. Academic majors experiencing increases in student enrollment include Art Education, Biochemistry/Molecular Biology, Christian Ministries and Elementary Education. The percentage of students of color has increased from 24% to 33% for the total student body.

Also during this time, $12M was applied to endowment, scholarships, and facility upgrades such as Academic Support Services Center, School of Nursing Simulation Lab, renewal of the largest lecture hall which was renamed for Paqui and Brian Kelly (Notre Dame head football coach), new entrances constructed for the East campus and Athletic Park, the addition of intramural fields, construction of a new Softball Stadium, a refreshed Weight Room, addition of a Kindergarten Lab School, remodeled Art Gallery, renovated Acorn cafe, Wi-Fi network and phone systems installed, renovated computer science lab, classroom and lounge, and more.

Traditional college-age students now rank mentoring as one of the most prominent traits of the Bethel environment, seen in part by a shift from 5 in 10 to 7 in 10 residential students voluntarily engaged in small group or one-on-one mentoring by faculty/staff. Through alumni surveys, we see very high faith-integration retention after their Bethel years (e.g. understanding Biblical texts, feeling equipped for the essential questions of life, strong critical thinking skills, etc.). In addition to mentoring, Bethel integrates strong academics, spiritual formation and building lifelong relationships into the student experience.

Work culture at Bethel also thrives, now meeting or exceeding industry average scores on 47 of 55 variables annually tracked by Best Christian Workplaces, which surveys 15,000 workers in Christian organizations annually. The employee experience at Bethel now leads national norms, to a statistically significant difference, in commitment to excellence, an environment for creativity and innovation, solving problems through supervision, the habit of receiving and using input, and demonstrating spiritual gifts throughout the workplace.

Bethel's work values include: Love God, Love People, Humble Excellence and Creative Grit.

Bethel University does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, age, sex, disability, national or ethnic origin in employment opportunities, in keeping with applicable state and federal laws. In keeping with the mission of the institution, Bethel University seeks applicants with a strong commitment to the values and lifestyle of evangelical Christianity and who profess a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. As a Christian institution, we require faculty and staff to adhere to the University's Lifestyle Covenant and to enforce a religiously based statement of responsibilities for all University employees. Women and minorities are encouraged to apply. Bethel University, as an educational institution operating under the auspices of the Missionary Church, reserves the right to prefer employees on the basis of religion (Title VII, Sections 702-703, United States Civil Rights Act of 1964 as amended).