Administrative Coordinator

Posted on 09/20/2022

Duke University

Durham, NC

Each year Trinity College of Arts & Sciences awards nearly 80 percent of Duke University’s undergraduate degrees, and approximately 40 percent of all graduate degrees in disciplines across the arts, humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences. Founded in Randolph County, NC in 1838 as Brown’s Schoolhouse and later renamed Trinity College in 1859, Trinity College moved to Durham in 1892 and later became known as Duke University in 1924 as a result of a gift made by James B. Duke to honor his family.

Through the contributions of our 700 faculty and 38 departments and programs, Trinity College’s disciplinary excellence and multidisciplinary interests undergird the research, teaching and service that have become the hallmarks of the university. Philanthropic support for the college, which is Duke’s flagship program in the liberal arts, affects every facet of the university, including but not limited to curriculum development, research discovery, counseling and advising, service learning, innovation and entrepreneurship and interdisciplinary initiatives. This work is accomplished through strategic alignment with the academic and university leadership as well as deep coordination with development and program directors within Alumni Engagement & Development (AED).

Trinity and The Graduate School are intricately connected, and thus so are their fundraising priorities. Gifts to one school often benefit the other. For example, faculty heavily rely on Ph.D. students for research assistance. In fact, some faculty choose to teach at one school over another because of the quality of graduate students. Therefore, by supporting Ph.D. students, donors are also actually supporting Trinity faculty.

At The Graduate School, approximately 2,500 PhD students and 1,000 research master’s degree students are enrolled across more than 80 departments and programs, working with more than 1,300 graduate faculty members.  The Graduate School is responsible for supporting the administration of 55 Ph.D. programs, 29 research-oriented Master’s, and 28 certificates. The small, private settings in our departments and programs help graduate students and faculty build a special partnership marked by intimate collegiality and common purpose.

The Administrative Coordinator supports the development and implementation of strategies, resources, and best practices for the Trinity College and The Graduate School (TGS) team. This position assists the Development Directors and Program Directors in engagement in Trinity academic departments and TGS, board management, and special events, allowing the directors to be externally focused on fundraising, donor cultivation and stewardship, and strategic planning with department leadership. The Administrative Coordinator reports directly to the Director of Administration & Operations.

Responsibilities: 

Programmatic Advancement and Project Management: 

The Administrative Coordinator collaborates with colleagues within and beyond Alumni Engagement & Development to represent and advance the Trinity College and Graduate School team’s interests and goals. This position partners closely with frontline fundraising colleagues, Alumni Engagement, Student Affairs/TGS Career Center, Graduate and Professional School Engagement, and Special Events to provide information and resources about Trinity College and The Graduate School, enhance collegial understanding of their work, and generate tools, strategies, and frameworks to optimize workflow for the Trinity and TGS team members. Examples of this collaborative work include but are not limited to: assisting with recruitment of alumni to serve as regional volunteers and board members to represent Trinity and TGS on regional boards; supporting Trinity, TGS, and departmental participation for events such as homecoming, reunion, and commencement; interacting with colleagues in alumni affairs to best cross-pollinate and collaborate with Trinity departments, Student Affairs, and TGS Career Center with various tasks and projects, such as connecting donors and prospective donors with departments for campus visits; interfacing with engagement colleagues around the Forever Learning Institute for faculty interaction and Graduate and Professional School Engagement; and other special projects as needed.

Departmental Engagement: 

Work with faculty and curricular and co-curricular programs to leverage the expertise of alumni to enrich educational experiences, such as identifying alumni for class speakers and mentored course projects. In consultation and partnership with the development and program directors, utilize Duke’s DADD database and internal policies/procedures to track/update alumni career trajectories as well as their history and interest in engagement over time for key departments. Collaborate with Marketing, Communications, and Stewardship on expendable fund use reporting and personalized, high-touch stewardship pieces utilizing knowledge of and relationships with departments. Work with the Trinity and TGS team to plan and organize specialized cultivation and stewardship events for our key priority fundraising areas and lead donors and prospects. Including, but not limited to, back-to-school type daylong events highlighting faculty teachers, high-level stewardship events on campus for our principal gift donors, or regional donor events highlighting Trinity faculty.

Development Board Support: 

The Administrative Coordinator will support Trinity College and TGS board administrators in strategy and volunteer engagement for the Trinity College Board of Visitors and Graduate School Board of Visitors. It is highly anticipated that additional engagement boards will be formalized during our current capital campaign, particularly around engaging emeriti/former board members, and potentially creating more targeted service/engagement opportunities within Trinity at the divisional and/or departmental levels. The position will execute strategies to cultivate past volunteers to continue their involvement with Duke.

Desired Skills and Knowledge: 

  • Solid knowledge of the fundamentals of fundraising/advancement
  • Experience with the Duke Alumni and Development Database (DADD) preferred
  • Strong project management skills and experience
  • Demonstrated ability to organize and follow through with complex tasks to meet deadlines, while also planning, prioritizing and multitasking across multiple areas
  • Ambition, creativity, flexibility and resourcefulness in analyzing situations, finding, and recommending appropriate solutions to problems, and implementing action steps
  • Keen sense of personal initiative, ability to independently identify opportunities to provide programmatic support/value add, and eagerness to deliver results of the highest quality
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills
  • Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively and strategically with diverse constituencies
  • Team player
  • High level of comfort with ambiguity
  • Strong customer service orientation
  • Excellent attention to detail
  • Commitment to curiosity and continuous learning

Preferred Experience: 

Work requires a general knowledge of fundraising, preferably in higher education. Working knowledge of research methods, procedures, and activities normally acquired through 4-5 years of development experience, preferably in a higher education setting or an equivalent combination of relevant education and/or experience.

Minimum Qualifications – Education: 

Work requires a general business background generally equivalent to a bachelor’s degree in a business-related field.

Minimum Qualifications – Experience: 

Work requires 2 years related business or administrative experience to become familiar with general personnel practices, accounting and budgeting principles and coordination of major office activities. A master’s degree in a business-related field may be substituted for 2 years experience.  OR ANY OTHER EQUIVALENT COMBINATION OF RELEVANT EDUCATION AND/OR EXPERIENCE.

Duke is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer committed to providing employment opportunity without regard to an individual’s age, color, disability, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information, national origin, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or veteran status.

Duke aspires to create a community built on collaboration, innovation, creativity, and belonging. Our collective success depends on the robust exchange of ideas—an exchange that is best when the rich diversity of our perspectives, backgrounds, and experiences flourishes. To achieve this exchange, it is essential that all members of the community feel secure and welcome, that the contributions of all individuals are respected, and that all voices are heard. All members of our community have a responsibility to uphold these values.

Essential Physical Job Functions: Certain jobs at Duke University and Duke University Health System may include essentialjob functions that require specific physical and/or mental abilities. Additional information and provision for requests for reasonable accommodation will be provided by each hiring department.

To apply for this job please visit careers.duke.edu.