Academic Program Coordinator - Tombras School of Advertising and Public Relations - CCI- - UTK
Knoxville, TN (On-site)
Posted 4 weeks ago
Top 1% of applicants do these two things.
The other 99% submit and hope. You're about to do something different.
Job Description
The Academic Program Coordinator is a highly public-facing role responsible for managing the daily front-office workflows, course scheduling logistics, school-level programs and events, and student program support for the Tombras School. This position serves as the primary front-line contact and coordinator for undergraduate and graduate students, student organizations, competition teams, fellowship programs, and faculty logistical workflows. Additionally, this role coordinates general room bookings and collaborates with college and university-level offices to ensure smooth daily operations.
Responsibilities
School Logistics & Academic Support
- Provide front-line customer service by greeting visitors, routing incoming calls, managing general departmental emails, and handling mail distribution.
- Serve as the primary, accessible point of contact for undergraduate and graduate student inquiries, providing baseline troubleshooting for registration or timetable difficulties.
- Manage local office supply inventories and handle direct, low-level vendor interactions for routine needs.
- Coordinate the input and adjustment of the class timetable each semester, communicating with faculty to resolve scheduling conflicts before final submission.
- Prepare documents, agendas, and presentation materials for school faculty meetings.
- Record and distribute accurate minutes for general faculty meetings and departmental committee sessions.
- Compile documentation, feedback data, and manuals for internal use, accreditation reviews, or institutional surveys.
- Act as the building and facilities contact for the school, reporting space, equipment, or maintenance issues to the college IT/facilities teams for resolution.
- Manage the reservation and scheduling of school-controlled rooms, labs, and collaborative spaces for routine student meetings and student organization usage.
- Assists the director in ensuring course guides are up to date and shared with faculty.
- Assists the director in the onboarding of new faculty members and serves as main point of contact for adjunct faculty.
- Supports the director and faculty members in curricular revisions.
- Oversees the process for Vol Core designation, supporting faculty in completing applications and ensuring the requirements are being met.
- Serves as primary school contact with the Registrar's Office.
- Supports the director in preparing the school’s course schedule, completing necessary revisions and sharing information about courses with students.
- Identifies critical issues including potential scheduling or class assignment conflicts and supports the director in resolving these issues.
- Plan, coordinate, and execute school-level programs and events, symposia, and special lectures on and off campus.
- Identify and reserve campus venues, coordinate catering, handle vendor setup details, and manage day-of event logistics and volunteers.
- Coordinate the fall and spring ADPR Advisory Board meetings, ensuring smooth hospitality and material preparation.
- Oversee logistical arrangements for the annual professional networking trip, coordinating student registrations, itineraries, lodging arrangements, and chaperone schedules.
- Create, update, and manage localized communication materials, such as flyers, internal newsletters, and digital display signage.
- Collaborate with the CCI Communications & Marketing team to ensure school announcements, banners, and digital collateral align with college branding requirements.
- Coordinate with/respond to Tombras Program manager for school outreach and community engagement.
- Serve as the primary staff liaison and resource for departmental student clubs (e.g., AAF UTK Chapter, PRSSA) and competition teams (e.g., NSAC, Bateman Team).
- Guide student leaders and faculty advisors through university event compliance, campus activities policies, and space reservation workflows.
- Provide operational support for the co-directors of The Orange Room (TOR), helping coordinate its physical space, student schedules, and programmatic activities.
- Coordinate non-financial, program-related arrangements for competition teams and student organizations, including scheduling
Other/Supplementary Duties
- Provide critical operational coverage and temporary administrative backup for the Administrative Specialist during peak processing periods, absences, or vacancies to ensure continuity of operations
- Perform other duties as assigned by the School Director.
Required Qualifications
- Education: High school diploma or GED
- Experience: Minimum of 1-2 years of experience with general office duties, logistics, student group involvement, or extensive customer service. Student or part-time employment welcomed and considered.
- Knowledge, Skills, Abilities:
- Strong interpersonal communication skills.
- Ability to collaborate with others.
- Strong customer service skills.
- Ability to solve problems in a professional and proactive manner.
- Knowledge of Microsoft Office products.
Preferred Qualifications
- Education: Bachelor’s Degree
- Experience: Higher education or event coordination experience.
- Knowledge, Skills, Abilities:
- Knowledge of higher education operations.
- Knoxville, Tennessee
- Onsite
- UT market range: MR05
- Anticipated hiring range: $40,000 - $43,000
- Find more information on the UT Market Range structure here
- Find more information on UT Benefits here
To express interest, please submit an application with the noted below attachments:
- Resume
- Cover Letter
- 3 professional references
About The College/Department/Division
CCI is part of a Land Grant Institution embedded in communities to make those communities a better place. Our alumni, students, faculty, and staff strive to positively impact on the lives of people in our state through our teaching, scholarship, creative work, and through our engagement and service. CCI as a college is well poised to deliver upon all those areas to become the most nationally distinctive but locally relevant College of Communication and Information in the country.
About Us
The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, has shaped leaders, changemakers, and innovative thinkers since its founding in 1794. The university is home to more than 38,000 students and 10,000 statewide employees—the Volunteers—who uphold the university’s tradition of lighting the way for others through leadership and service.
UT Knoxville offers over 900 programs of study across 14 degree-granting colleges and schools. As Tennessee’s flagship land-grant university, its footprint spans the entire state. The university holds the highest Carnegie classification for research activity and has deep partnerships with industry leaders and the US Department of Energy’s largest multidisciplinary laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
The Knoxville campus serves and recruits for UT Knoxville, including the Institute of Agriculture and the Space Institute, as well as the UT Institute of Public Service.
UT Knoxville considers its employees its number one asset. With values that focus on work-life balance, compensation, and innovation leadership, all Vols are supported to advance professionally. Employees have access to career development and coaching, continued education, and an extensive list of development and training possibilities. The Volunteer employee experience implements structures and practices to attract and retain top-tier talent, fostering a strong staff community and supporting a culture of involvement and engagement for everyone.
The university holds a strong commitment to its land-grant mission of learning and engagement, with a tradition of service and leadership that carries that Volunteer spirit throughout the state and around the world. It has been ranked nationally as “Best Employer for New Graduates,” “One of America’s Best Large Employers,” and “Best Workplace for Women,” and has been designated as “Best Place for Working Parents” by Forbes Magazine.
Apply today and join the Tennessee Volunteer community!
The University of Tennessee is a public land-grant university headquartered at Knoxville. Founded in 1794, it is the flagship institution of the statewide University of Tennessee system with nine undergraduate departments and eleven graduate departments and hosts more than 26,000 students from all 50 states and more than 100 foreign countries. In its 2009 ranking of universities, U.S. News & World Report ranked UT 118th among national universities and 52nd among public institutions of higher learning. Its ties to Oak Ridge National Laboratory, established under UT President Andrew Holt and continued under the UT-Battelle partnership, have positioned the University as co-manager and allow for considerable research opportunities for faculty and students enjoyed by few other institutions of comparable standing.Also affiliated with the University are the Baker School of Public Policy and Public Affairs, the University of Tennessee Anthropological Research Facility, and the University of Tennessee Arboretum, which occupies 250 acres of nearby Oak Ridge, Tennessee and features hundreds of species of plants indigenous to the region. The University is a direct partner of the University of Tennessee Medical Center, the only Level I trauma center in the East Tennessee region and a self-proclaimed 'teaching hospital' due to its aggressive medical research programs and position as the primary career destination for most medical school graduates of the University of Tennessee Health Science Center at Memphis.
