Position is available to employees of the Associated C.O.L.T. Staff of the University of Maine from 01/03/2023 through 01/09/2023 and open to external applicants thereafter.

The Administrative Specialist CL3 with the University of Maine Cooperative Extension will provide administrative, bookkeeping, and facility management support to the Androscoggin and Sagadahoc Counties Cooperative Extension Office in Lisbon Falls. This person in this position is responsible for general office management tasks in support of the faculty, staff, and volunteers conducting educational programming, research, and outreach. The work done in this position is essential to Cooperative Extension’s mission because it provides customer service to the public and supports local and statewide Extension staff in 4-H, Agriculture, and Horticulture programs. Position will be based in the Androscoggin and Sagadahoc counties Extension office located at 24 Main Street in Lisbon Falls as the primary point of contact for clients, faculty, staff and volunteers. This is a full-time, 40 hours per week, 5 days a week, soft-money funded position. Daily work hours Monday through Friday, 8:00am to 4:30pm with a half-hour for lunch. This position pays $19.02/hour.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Performs a wide range of administrative duties in support of Extension faculty, staff, volunteers, and programs such as customer service, word processing and database management, website maintenance, account reconciliation, purchasing, accounts payable and building management.
• Oversees daily operations of the Counties’ office; answering the phone, triage and screening client calls, visitors and mail; directing non-routine requests; registering clients for programs, acts as intermediary for faculty maintaining contact with others; answers questions and gives information about well-defined administrative, programmatic or personnel areas, some requiring limited policy interpretation; schedules meetings; schedules use of conference space.
• Provides word processing capacity including desktop publishing; maintains databases; composes correspondence; edits, proofs and compiles manuscripts; maintains 4-H database and produces reports as needed or requested; tracks 4-H paperwork (enrollments, animal approval forms, meeting minutes, club charters, club EIN information and project records) and creates monthly newsletters or blogs; maintains the Master Gardener Volunteers (MGV) database, tracks and produces quarterly reports of MGV hours, updates list of volunteer opportunities and create periodic publications for MGVs; regularly updates New Farmer website, and MFRN website; manages MyTurn database. (Must be proficient in Microsoft Office, including Word, PowerPoint and Excel; Adobe products, requiring strong computer skills and aptitude.)
• Serves as Executive Committee Liaison: Serves as primary contact for the Androscoggin-Sagadahoc Counties Extension Association (ASCEA). Contacts ASCEA President when checks need to be signed. Researches new equipment purchases or services as needed, and solicits bids for ASCEA action. Creates and distributes invoices to both Androscoggin and Sagadahoc Counties. Assists in preparation for meetings, distributes agendas and minutes to ASCEA each month. Prepares and distributes Annual ASCEA report to County Commissioners, Budget Committees and State Elected officials. Prepares and distributes county budget requests to the two counties and represents the office (with ASCEA volunteers) at county budget hearings. Attends ASCEA meetings and county budget hearings.
  • Carries out bookkeeping tasks including making bank deposits; preparing checks and check requests, reconciling budget and expenses statements; preparing reports for the ASCEA board; works with ASCEA treasurer, monitoring county chartfields and creating purchase orders through Marketplace.
• Performs basic bookkeeping including tracking budgets, monitoring expenditures, preparing purchase orders, depositing cash and checks, and preparing financial reports and/or other appropriate payroll tasks. This also includes maintaining a filing system for invoices, receipts and other financial documents; ordering routine supplies and materials; soliciting estimates and quotes for purchase orders, and completing orders once quotes are approved. Reconciles accounts and statements monthly and resolves identified issues.
• Maintains a complex filing system as well as an electronic tracking system.
• Provides some support for statewide staff located at the Androscoggin & Sagadahoc Counties office.
• Manages social media updates (content created by others) for UMaine Extension accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter under the supervision of the Extension Marketing Manager as well as monitors, updates and maintains the Androscoggin & Sagadahoc Counties website.
• Composes, edits, and reviews a variety of standard and/or specialized correspondence, reports, documents, applications, forms, memos, and/or other applicable materials.
• Provides support for: materials and management of 4-H Science toolkits, event support for 4-H STEM programs (such as printing name tags, purchasing and mailing materials and managing event registration)
• Provides timely and accurate information in response to public requests for information.
• Engages in continuing professional development opportunities to build upon skills.
• Acts as office Civil Rights contact in partnership with staff and faculty.
• Acts as office safety contact.
• Develops and maintains professional relationships that reflect courtesy, civility, and mutual respect.
• Coordinates monthly UMaine Extension staff meetings and attends bi-monthly Extension Association meetings (held in the evening).
• Contributes skills and insights for effective office management.
• Utilizes coaching and mentoring methods that provide an environment that is anticipatory, supportive, and encourages constructive feedback on performance.
• Performs other reasonably related duties as assigned.

The University of Maine is a community of more than 11,900 undergraduate and graduate students, and 2,500 employees located on the Orono campus, the regional campus in Machias, and throughout the state. UMaine is a land, sea and space grant university, and maintains a leadership role as the University of Maine System's flagship institution. UMaine is the state's public research university and a Carnegie R1 top-tier research institution, dedicated to providing excellent teaching, research and service for Maine, the nation and the world. More information about UMaine is at umaine.edu.

The University of Maine offers a wide range of benefits for employees including, but not limited to, tuition benefits (employee and dependent), comprehensive insurance coverage including medical, dental, vision, life insurance, and short and long term disability as well as retirement plan options. As a former NSF ADVANCE institution, the University of Maine is committed to diversity in our workforce and to dual-career couples.

UMaine is located in beautiful Central Maine. Many employees report that a primary reason for choosing to come to UMaine is quality of life. Numerous cultural activities, excellent public schools, safe neighborhoods, high quality medical care, little traffic, and a reasonable cost of living make the greater Bangor area a wonderful place to live. Learn more about what the Bangor region has to offer here.

Employees in the University of Maine System are required to comply with UMS COVID protocols which currently include, but are not limited to, being vaccinated, obtaining a qualified vaccination exemption, and/or participating in regular COVID testing. Further information can be found on our Together for Maine website.

Required:

• 60 credits or more of higher education or equivalent work experience and training.
• Significant experience in accounting, office management, or a related field.
• Experience in office settings, performing a variety of routine to non-routine clerical and administrative support responsibilities and tasks.
• Excellent knowledge of financial and purchasing procedures, systems, record-keeping, policies, etc.
• Experience in handling office bookkeeping, Quicken preferred; bank deposits; reconciliation of accounts and processing confidential information.
• Excellent computer skills and experience with database usage, and fluency in all Microsoft Office applications – particularly Excel, as well as Google Drive and document management software.
• Strong organizational skills with attention to detail and accuracy.
• Ability to manage multiple complex responsibilities simultaneously, develop and implement systems and strategies, determine and set priorities, meet deadlines, and track details.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to interact effectively with diverse groups of constituents.
• Ability to work independently and manage multiple tasks in an autonomous work environment as well work effectively as part of a team, and able to achieve and document measurable results.
• Exemplary customer service skills.
• Ability to communicate effectively using oral, written, and electronic methods.
• Willingness to handle/process insect and plant samples as necessary.

Preferred:

• Associate’s degree in a related field with approximately three years of progressively more responsible administrative experience.
• Previous work experience at a university level.
• Experience with UMaine’s General Ledger and MaineStreet systems.
• Basic knowledge of database management.
• Knowledge of University of Maine Cooperative Extension’s mission and educational programs.
• Experience working with diverse audiences; knowledge of diversity, equity and inclusion; and understanding of equal opportunity, affirmative action and civil rights policies.

1.) a cover letter which describes your experience, interests, and suitability for the position
2.) a resume/curriculum vitae
3.) contact information for three professional references

You will also need to submit the affirmative action survey, the self-identification of disability form, and the self-identification of veteran status forms. Incomplete application materials cannot be considered. Materials received after the initial review date will be reviewed at the discretion of the University.

For questions about the search, please contact search committee chair: Tori Jackson, tori.jackson@maine.edu or Lynne Holland, lynne.holland@maine.edu

Appropriate background checks are required.

In complying with the letter and spirit of applicable laws and pursuing its own goals of diversity, the University of Maine System does not discriminate on the grounds of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, transgender status, gender, gender identity or expression, ethnicity, national origin, citizenship status, familial status, ancestry, age, disability physical or mental, genetic information, or veterans or military status in employment, education, and all other programs and activities. The University provides reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities upon request. The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding nondiscrimination policies: Director of Equal Opportunity, 5748 Boudreau Hall, Room 101, Orono, ME 04469-5754, 207-581-1226, TTY 711 (Maine Relay System).