CIS Jobs (updated 03 Jan 2008, dc)

Aloha. The CIS department (Computer and Information Sciences) is currently seeking a student employee to be our new Administrative Assistant. This web page talks about that job.

The position is summarized as follows: 
  Type: Clerical
  Wage: 7.25
  Hours: 19 | Monday - Friday
  Starts: Immediate

  Description: Track CIS department assignments, budgets, resources,
  and alumni.  Be a student advocate.  Develop and publish news
  stories.  Do other special projects as needed.

  Qualifications: Excellent communicator in both written and verbal
  English.  Organized.  Cheerful and caring attitude, friendly, works
  well with others, reliable, creative, flexible under shifting
  priorities, attentive to detail, maintains confidences.  Good with
  email, word processing, minute taking, budget tracking, resource
  tracking, alumni tracking and research, news reporting, and
  newsletter publishing.  Willing to learn.

  Instructions: Interview will be scheduled upon receipt of resume.
  Email Don.Colton@byuh.edu or send printed copy to BYUH Box 1854 (GCB
  119).  Send resume (pdf or plaintext) and cover letter summarizing
  how your skills meet our needs.  See http://colton.byuh.edu/jobs for
  more information.

Background: The CIS department was formed January 1, 2008, so it is pretty new. But it was formed by combining two older departments: Computer Science and Information Systems. To that we have added a third major: Information Technology. So, yes, we are kind of typically a bunch of nerds and enjoy reading Dilbert. CIS is part of the School of Computing (SOC).

The department consists of eight faculty. Bret Ellis is the dean of the School of Computing. Don Colton is the chair of the CIS department. Leslie Fife is the chair of the CS program (major). Jim Lee is the chair of the IS program. Tim Stanley is the chair of the IT program. Other faculty include Bret Swan, Chris Slade, and Scott Mikolyski, who is also our Systems Administrator. We have classrooms in GCB 101, 140, 143, 147, and sometimes 150 and 153. We have lab space in GCB 103 and 117.

Your Office: Your private office would be GCB 117. It's a pretty nice place. We built it yesterday (Jan 2). It has nice walls, a desk, and some storage space. It will soon have a computer and a telephone. It opens directly onto the main GCB foyer and is next door to the SOC office. You would be just a few feet away from most CIS faculty as well as a drinking fountain and restrooms. Students would have ready access to your office, so if you don't like students or being interrupted from time to time, this job may not be for you.

The "Real" Job Description: You read the short job description above, but those job descriptions almost never really do justice to the job. Below is a more detailed description of what I think you would be doing.

If you come by, I think you will see that this is a great place to work.

Organization and Outreach: Your job can be summed up pretty neatly in two words: Organization and Outreach. The organization part of your job is to help us remember things and not miss important opportunities. The outreach part of your job is to reach out to students and alumni to help us bridge that gap between our world and their world.

Priorities: Your major activities may vary from week to week and may include long-term projects. Your current priorities are established in consultation with the CIS department chair (Don Colton). You will probably meet weekly at a set time to review accomplishments and priorities and to plan for the future.

Interruptions: When consistent with your current priorities, perform errands for CIS faculty and respond to student requests.

Minutes: Attend and take minutes at CIS department meetings. Currently these are held Tuesday afternoons from 3:30 to 5:00 PM. You may be invited to other special meetings. Type up minutes and email them promptly to the attendees.

Student Advocate: Collect student comments including suggestions and complaints. As appropriate make them anonymous. Share them with the CIS department at meetings and in other appropriate ways. Proactively verify that student needs are being met, and alert us to opportunities for improvement. Verify that tutoring hours and other department information is readily available to students through the CIS department website.

Accounting: Track the CIS department budget. Collect budgetary information from the School of Computing administrative assistant (Tammie Talaipa) or her assistants. Meet regularly with the CIS department chair and with CIS program chairs as requested, to review the CIS budget. Handle submission of receipts and expenses to SOC and keep up-to-the-day budget information. Research budgetary questions by talking to Tammie or others as directed.

Resource Check Out: Provide check out and check in for classroom support items such as textbooks and computer equipment. Keep track of who has what, how to contact them, and when it will be returned.

Alumni: Develop and maintain contact with CIS alumni and assist the CIS department in its related accreditation and assessment efforts (how many are employed, how many in graduate school, etc).

Newsletter: Write one or more news items for the CIS or SOC website per month. You may be given a topic to address, or you may be asked to propose story ideas. Prepare and mail a CIS newsletter three times per year (once per semester or term except Summer term) both by email/web and by printed regular mail.

In Conclusion: Our main goal is to do a better job of teaching our students and helping them be successful in the after-graduation world. As our administrative assistant, you would play a key role in helping us meet these goals. We look forward to your application.

Thanks! Bro Colton