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Title: GA Pre-professional - America Reads/America Counts - Fall/Spring 2024-25
Division Name: Academic Affairs
Department: Financial Aid Office
Campus Location: Normal, IL

Job Summary

The Pre-professional graduate assistants are involved in the hiring process of tutors and ensuring that tutors are trained adequately to serve the community. They provide service to local families, working with school districts and after-school programs to identify students in need of program support. Duties include collaboration with local teachers to identify time slots needed and matching the availability of tutors along with the specific tutoring skills needed. Our GAs are also required to conduct site visits each semester to observe and evaluate each tutor, addressing any issues that arise. Duties also include gathering and compiling annual statistics that are provided to the Center for Civic Engagement and to the Provost Office in support of their annual report. Supervisory responsibilities include managing the weekly group chat with tutors, resolving issues and providing guidance and recommendations to tutors based on the group discussions.

Due to the nature of this program, the GA’s complete administrative tasks for payroll processing each pay period, communicating with parents and teachers to validate the hours submitted and ensuring accurate submission of the tutors’ time. This position provides GAs with mid-level supervisory experience. They encounter situations where they must use professional judgment in advising tutors in difficult situations, resolving matters that involve disgruntled tutors or families, analyzing policies and procedures of the program because of feedback from families and educators. These pre-professional positions work closely with the Program Coordinator in reviewing policies and procedures of the program and are involved in making recommendations of changes to the policies and procedures.

The Pre-professional graduate assistants serve as a resource to tutors and provide and secure additional resources for tutors, sometimes including assistance with developing lesson plans. GAs may also serve as a tutor for elementary students (from Preschool through 9th grade) in reading and/or math. Locations include the Illinois State University campus, local schools, public libraries, community centers, and after-school programs. GAs also perform other duties as assigned.

This position can be 28, 20, or 10 hours/week depending on need each term.

Salary Rate / Pay Rate

$1473-

Required Qualifications

1. Eligible for appointment as per the requirements in the Graduate Assistant Handbook which can be found at http://hr.illinoisstate.edu/downloads/GA_Handbook.pdf
2. Must be a degree-seeking graduate student at Illinois State University in Communication Sciences and Disorders, Education (all plans), Family and Consumer Science, Human Development, Nurse Practitioner, Psychology, and the Social Work/School Social Work program.
3. Experience with working with children (tutoring and/or mentoring).
4. Professional oral and written communication skills.
5. Proficiency with Microsoft Office products and ability to learn the ISU Student Information System.
6. Ability to perform tasks with limited supervision, attend to detail and remain organized.
7. Professional interpersonal skills for interacting with ISU faculty, staff, and students, as well as parents, school personnel, and children.
8. Ability to take initiative and creative control of an assignment and implement strategies to carry out the necessary tasks.
9. Ability to provide your own transportation for off-campus sites. The program assistant will tutor approximately 7-10 hours per week, enter bi-weekly posts in the tutor “group chat” website with the remaining hours spent completing administrative tasks.
10. Federal Work Study eligibility is required.
11. Must be registered for at least 3 credit hours during the summer semester.

Preferred Qualifications

1. The preferred applicant will be able to apply complex regulations and adjust to new tasks
2. Candidates with bilingual skills (fluency in Spanish) are also preferred. Program assistants with these skills will be expected to assist with in-person, email, and phone communication with Spanish-speaking families as well as translation of documents as needed.

Work Hours

1. The work hours are those in the posting for this position: Monday through Friday between 8:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m., and Saturdays from 9:00 a.m. through 5:00 p.m. (These hours are optional for required tutoring placements. Graduate assistants could be scheduled to provide academic support during these times, if appropriate/approved by the Program Coordinator).
2. Graduate assistants are expected to cover office hours between 8:00 – 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. The Program Coordinator will create/update this schedule to meet the needs of the program. Schedules will not conflict with graduate assistants’ class/program commitments.

Functional Expectations

1. Effectively communicate on a daily basis. 2. Remain at a workstation for extended periods.

Proposed Starting Date

August, 2024

Required Applicant Documents

Resume, Cover letter, Reference List

Please Note: These documents are required to be submitted online in order to complete the application process. Please have these documents ready prior to clicking on "Apply"

Special Instructions for Applicants

Note: If you have not yet been assigned a University ID, but are interested in applying for this graduate assistantship, please proceed with the graduate assistant application process. For the first question regarding your University ID, simply enter in nine (9) zeros (e.g., 000000000).

You must be eligible for employment in the United States and at Illinois State University and/or for the number of hours required for the position.

Illinois State University student employees are restricted to no more than 28 hours per week of on-campus employment for all positions held. International students are restricted by their visa status to no more than 20 hours per week of on-campus employment when the university is in session but may work up to 28 hours per week when the university is not in session. Please contact the Office of International Student and Scholar Services for guidance on visa restrictions on work hours. The University cannot grant exceptions to visa status rules/laws.

Contact Information for Applicants

Adriana Reyes, areye23@ilstu.edu

Important Information for Applicants

This position is subject to a criminal background investigation and if applicable, an employment history review, based on University Policy 3.1.30 and any offer of employment is contingent upon you passing a satisfactory criminal background investigation and/or an employment history review. You may not begin work until the criminal background investigation results have been received and cleared by Human Resources.

Illinois State University is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or status as a protected veteran.

If you are an individual with a disability and need a reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) or other state or federal law you may request an accommodation by contacting the Office of Equal Opportunity and Access at (309) 438-3383. The Office of Equal Opportunity and Access will hold any confidential information you provide in confidence.

If you are having difficulty accessing the system, please call Human Resources at (309) 438-8311.