Undergraduate Admissions Assistant

The Opportunity

The Undergraduate Admissions Assistant will play a crucial role in supporting the university's enrollment goals by providing essential administrative and operational support to the ILR Admissions team. This position involves significant interaction with prospective students and their families, college counselors, and various university stakeholders.

Key Responsibilities

Admissions Support:

• Inform prospective students and college counselors about admissions procedures, academic requirements, and campus recruiting activities.
• Input and maintain student data in university databases (ImageNow, Slate, Peoplesoft).
• Assist in managing the admissions process, including reading assignments, decision entry, and verification of applications.
• Coordinate direct mailings to over 300,000 targeted prospective applicants and counselors.

General Administrative Duties:

• Serve as the office coordinator, welcoming visitors, answering calls, and providing information while ensuring compliance with data privacy regulations.
• Maintain the Admissions Office calendar, schedule events, and manage room reservations.
• Process receipts, verify budget expenses, and oversee office supply orders and equipment maintenance.
• Assist in planning and troubleshooting events such as Cornell Days and Saturday Visit Days.
• Participate in hiring, training, and interacting with student employees.

Applications Management:

• Track and manage student application volume through Slate, ensuring timely review and decision entry.
• Request and process necessary documents to complete application files.
• Organize Admissions Committee meetings and prepare relevant materials.
• Contribute to the development and implementation of strategies to improve admissions operations efficiency.

Data and Information Management:

• Enter prospect names into the Slate database from various sources and coordinate timely mailings with external vendors.
• Provide data for statistical analysis and compile reports as requested.
• Liaise with mail houses and other vendors to ensure quality service and timely delivery of materials.

If you are an experienced administrative and/or student services professional that is organized with a knack for attending to the details, we encourage you to apply with your resume and cover letter. Join our team and make a difference in the lives of prospective Cornell students and to shape the future by supporting the next generation of leaders and innovators!

What We Need

All applications must include a resume and cover letter for full consideration. 

• Associate’s degree with 2 to 4 years of administrative experience or an equivalent combination of education and work experience.
• Must possess a pleasant outgoing disposition and a professional demeanor.
• Individual must be sensitive to others’ needs and possess a high degree of diplomatic aptitude.
• Demonstrated ability to work in a lively environment without being distracted is essential.
• Must have outstanding interpersonal skills and a demonstrated ability to work with diverse clientele as the position requires considerable interaction with students, parents, alumni, and other audiences.
• Possess the ability to manage and prioritize multiple projects/assignments, work under pressure, and meet established deadlines.
• Past experience functioning as an effective team player.
• Ability to exercise good judgement and logic to anticipate and solve problems independently.
• Organizational skills and attention to detail are critical.
• Excellent writing, proofreading, and editing skills are necessary to be able to make individualized (non-standard) responses.
• Ability to communicate effective both verbally and in writing.
• Prior experience with calendar management and logistical planning.
• Demonstrated ability to maintain confidentiality.
• Ability to act as a liaison for university admissions offices and admissions processing center.
• Demonstrated ability to perform highly complex, technical work processing tasks, requiring a thorough knowledge of a variety of work and data manipulation methods.
• Experience in and/or demonstrated commitment to supporting diversity, equity, access, inclusion, and wellbeing.
• Experience working directly with people from diverse racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds.

If you have all those things, great! We have a few more things that we would prefer you to have, but it’s ok if you don’t.

• Prior experience in an academic setting working with students and faculty.
• Prior experience with event planning.
• Experience with University budget systems.