Position Details

Registry

Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK

Full time starting salary is normally in the range £22,050 to £23,535, with potential progression once in post to £28,631

Band 400

Full Time

Fixed Term contract up to March 2024 (Maternity Cover)

Travel may be required as part of this role

Closing date: 25th May 2023

This role is also open as an internal secondment opportunity which would need to be agreed by your current line manager.

Open House Event : We will be holding an ‘open house’ event at the University’s Exchange building, in Centenary Square, Birmingham, between 10am and 5pm on Thursday 18 May 2023. If you’re interested in working at the University of Birmingham and perhaps have a few questions, this is an opportunity to meet colleagues in the Recruitment team. It will be a relaxed and informal event – you can drop in at any time. If you are interested in coming along but cannot make it until after 5 please can you let us know by dropping an email to s.shaw.1@bham.ac.uk and we will see if we can arrange a time between 5 - 6 on this day.

Our offer to you

People are at the heart of what we are and do.

The University of Birmingham is proud to have been a part of the City of Birmingham and the wider region for over 100 years, and we are equally proud to be recognised as a leading global university. We want to attract talented people from across the city and beyond, support them to succeed, and celebrate their success.

We are committed to helping the people who work here to develop through our sector-leading Birmingham Professional programme which provides all professional services staff with development opportunities and the encouragement to reach their full potential. With almost 5,000 professional services jobs in a wide-range of functions in Edgbaston and in our campus in Dubai, there are plenty of opportunities for you to be able to develop your career at the University.

We believe there is no such thing as a typical member of staff and that diversity is a source of strength that underpins the exchange of ideas, innovation, and debate. We warmly welcome people from all backgrounds and are committed to fostering an inclusive environment where diversity is at the heart of who and what we are, and how we work.

Supporting our people to achieve a healthy work/life balance is important both to our employees and to the success of the University and, depending on the role, we offer a variety of flexible working arrangements. We therefore welcome discussions on all forms of flexible working. In addition, you will receive a generous package of benefits including 40 days paid holiday a year, one paid day a year for volunteering, occupational sick pay, and a pension scheme. We also have three high quality subsidised day nurseries.

The University is situated in leafy Edgbaston and there are excellent transport links to our beautiful campus, including main bus routes and a train station on site. On campus we have a state-of-the-art sports centre with pool, shops, places to eat and drink, our own art gallery, museum and botanical gardens.

Find out more about the benefits of working for the University of Birmingham

Role Summary

The role is located in the Timetabling & Examinations subdivision of Registry. The team are responsible for the planning and collating of information, and allocating students to both the University’s teaching timetable & formal examination timetabling systems.

Working as part of a team supporting the scheduling teams, the post holder will resolve complex administrative procedures on timetabling and examination database systems, but would be expected to acknowledge when it would be appropriate to refer issues to more senior staff.

Main Duties

Supporting with the production and distribution of teaching timetables for Colleges/Departments on the Edgbaston and Selly Oak Campuses, as directed by the Timetabling & Examinations Officer.

With a focus on first time resolution, the postholder will be expected to use their own initiative operating without reference to others to prioritise workload and manage and complete incoming tasks on a daily basis as part of a team, recognising when to refer issues to more senior staff.

This includes:

• Appropriately triaging incoming work on a daily basis, allocating tasks to relevant teams for completion across a variety of platforms including email, change control database, IT Service Desk & Verint.
• Completing assigned tasks within the advertised SLA’s including:
  • Ad-hoc bookings
  • Guild/Society affiliated activity room bookings
  • Cancellation of activities
  • Change of staff members
  • Change to UT4/group information
  • Change of rooms for activities
  • Student group changes
  • Editing weeks on existing activities.
  • Processing invigilator requests
  • Handling answer booklet requests
  • Overseas examination processing
  • Inputting student RAP information into Banner
• Supporting teams within the division with activity template creation in the system prior to scheduling. This will involve following processes to set up activities and allocating staff to sessions, ensuring accuracy in line with information requested from Colleges at teaching delivery meetings.
• Developing an in-depth knowledge of the administrative processes underpinning teaching timetable and examination events. This will include identifying where there might be gaps across Colleges/ Departments, and undertaking cover for colleagues as required within the T&E team e.g. to cover holiday leave and support during busy periods etc.
• Supporting the preparation of the required examination material for each venue during the three examination periods. Under direction, ensuring that each venue has the necessary question paper (enlarged where appropriate), personalised attendance slip and script envelope for every student expected to attend. This will involve working with the Timetabling & Examinations Team Leader responsible for question papers and auxiliary material to ensure that each venue has the necessary material required for each examination scheduled.
• Submitting (by advertised deadlines), tracking, printing and distributing examination papers and auxiliary material required for the University’s examinations as submitted by Schools. It will be necessary to check all papers on submission to ensure they comply with the University’s agreed paper format refer issues to more senior staff where further guidance is required.
• Supporting with the arrangement of overseas examinations. This will require processing application forms, checking the eligibility of applicants and seeking approval from Colleges as appropriate, and liaising with the British Council and other overseas educational institutions in line with the University’s procedures.
• Following guidance available on Canvas to create requisitions, raise invoices and receipt goods through the Core system database when instructed.
• Continuing to expand awareness of University developments regarding timetabling and examination related matters to understand greater the context of the Timetabling & Examinations office and how it interrelates with the wider University. Undertaking other duties as required by the Timetabling & Examinations Team Leader, Timetabling & Examinations Manager or Assistant Director of the Timetabling & Examinations sub-division.
• Supporting equality and valuing diversity, including: (a) challenging bias prejudice and intolerance if appropriate or bringing it to the attention of a manager; (b) moderating own behaviour to avoid unfair discriminatory impact or bias on others.

Required Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications, Experience

Essential

• Educated to GCSE Level and have significant office experience or be able to demonstrate substantial relevant experience such that the tasks outlined in the job description can be carried out effectively.
• Demonstrable previous experience within a customer-driven environment and the ability to provide a professional service.
• Confident user of IT systems, in particular use of spreadsheets and database packages.
• Keen eye for detail.
• Able to demonstrate excellent verbal and written communication skills and attention to detail.
• Have and be able to demonstrate excellent interpersonal skills.
• Ability to work independently, accurately and to deadlines within in a team environment.
• Ability to prioritise and negotiate and use own judgement in decision taking.
• Have an understanding of what equality and diversity is and why it is important, including an ability to learn about relevant policies and procedures relating to equality and diversity.
• Have an ability to identify equality and diversity issues and either address these or bring them to the attention of a manager.

Desirable

• Previous experience of working within a Higher Education Institution.
• Familiarity with timetabling software.

Problem solving and decision making

• without reference to others
  • Day to day resolution and triaging of tasks that come into the Timetabling & Examinations subdivision.
  • Following process and procedure to complete tasks that have a clear solution or using judgment drawn from previous practice or precedent.
  • Allocate rooms to Guild affiliated activity in the timetabling database
  • Answering general queries concerning problems arising in teaching rooms.
  • Answering general queries regarding examinations and specific queries concerning alternative examination arrangements and examination venue bookings and preparation.
  • Troubleshooting problems that arise during the running of examinations e.g queries on examination papers.

• after consulting others
  • Responding to any complex or unusual queries received by the Department or student that consultation would provide a clear solution.
  • Raising matters of policy with the Timetabling & Examinations Development and Data Officer and suggest changes to processes or procedures in response to identifying efficiency savings feedback from users or other staff across the University.
  • Troubleshooting problems arising during the running of examinations e.g. problems occurring at examination centres overseas, late arrival/non-attendance of Senior Invigilators, late arrival of students, student illness etc

• or that would be referred to someone else
  • complex or unusual queries received by the Department or student that consultation would not provide a clear solution.
  • Major changes to policy or procedures relating to Timetabling and Examinations.
  • Issue with the Timetabling or Examination Software that cannot be resolved immediately.
  • Major difficulties arising in examination venues that require urgent attention but cannot be resolved by the Timetabling and Examinations Development and Data Officer e.g. fire alarm – refer to the Timetabling and Examinations Team Leader or their line manager.
    

Informal enquires to Ben Phillips, email: b.j.phillips@bham.ac.uk

View our staff values and behaviours here

Valuing excellence, sustaining investment

We value diversity and inclusion at the University of Birmingham and welcome applications from all sections of the community and are open to discussions around all forms of flexible working .