Postgraduate Manager at Stellenbosch University

Duties

• Management and administration of the PhD programmes of the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences
• This responsibility forms the core of the position. The duties listed in this paragraph is applicable to all PhD students of the Faculty. Duties can be divided into the following:
• Coordination and administration of prospective students and the admission and registration of postgraduate candidates
• Developing, negotiating, presenting and monitoring new internal policies of Stellenbosch University (SU) and the Faculty to ensure better PhD and master's student practices;   
• Being under direct pressure to manage tight timelines of research outputs and PhD and master's student lifecycles;
• Responding to enquiries from prospective PhD students;
• Responsible for the compilation of information to prospective and registered students via webpages, brochures, and general communication channels; 
• Providing support to process applications during the annual doctoral recruitment process, and coordinating the evaluation of eligible applications. This process will occur in alignment with the internal processes of the various academic departments and the Registrar's Division;
• Providing administrative support with the preliminary selection and processing of applications on SUNstudent;
• Ensuring the seamless completion of the admissions and registration process in collaboration with the various academic departments, Stellenbosch University International and the Centre for Student Administration. 

Management and administration of progress reporting of PhD candidates

• Overseeing the administration of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that needs to be signed by all PhD candidates and their supervisors, as well as the submission of an accompanying project plan;
• Managing the bi-annual completion of progress reports by PhD candidates and their supervisors;
• Communicating and managing the expectations attached to the conditional acceptance status and doctoral preparatory registration year;
• Monitoring the approval of PhD proposals by the Faculty Board;
• Assisting with the identification of training needs from the students' progress reports. 
• Administration of the PhD examination process
• Responsible for the administration of the examination process of doctoral dissertations, as well as the subsequent oral examination, which includes:
• Handling enquiries about the doctoral examination proses;
• Ensuring that supervisors and students are kept informed regarding the relevant submission dates;
• Receiving and processing the nomination of doctoral examiners forms;
• Preparing the nomination form and the CV's of examiners for further processing and approval by the Vice-Dean: Research and sending the completed form to the Faculty secretary for inclusion on the agenda of the Faculty Board for approval;
• Receiving the final dissertations from candidates and confirming with supervisors that the thesis is ready for examination;
• Sending the final dissertations with the required documentation to examiners;
• Receiving and processing the examiners' reports and sending the reports to the Vice-Dean: Research for preparing the quality control report;
• Sending the quality control report, as well as the processed anonymous examiners' reports to supervisors for further handling;
• Arranging the oral examination in collaboration with the Vice-Dean: Research, the candidate, supervisor(s), and the respective examiners; 
• Making the required travel and accommodation arrangements for external examiners and confirming the final arrangements;
• Sending the PhD candidate's response report to the respective examiners in preparation of the oral examination;
• Arranging the compensation of examiners with the responsible people;
• Receiving the improved dissertations (if required) for further examination; 
• Sending the recommendation of the oral examination panel, and the respective examiners' reports to the Faculty secretary for inclusion in the agenda of the Faculty Board for final approval;
• Payments and arrangements of flights and accommodation. 
• General office duties and financial administration (refers to PhD students of the Faculty and PhD students whose scholarship funding are administered by the Graduate School)

Secretarial duties:

• Providing administrative support to the Manager of the Graduate School and the Vice-Dean: Research;
• Arranging meetings and appointments for ad hoc duties;
• Compiling and distributing agendas, as well as fulfilling a secretarial role in taking minutes at the Graduate School Governing Board, the Faculty¿s Research Committee, the EMS Internationalisation Working Group and the EMS Postgraduate Studies Working Group;
• Handling administrative and follow-up duties that emanate from the minutes of the abovementioned meetings. 

Financial and operational duties:

• Managing the budget and scholarship allocations of full-time PhDs on the postgraduate bursary management system;
• Coordinating the annual renewal of medical cover for the Graduate School's international PhD candidates;
• Managing the Graduate School's asset register;
• Ensuring that payments to, for example, supervisors and examiners are facilitated in collaboration with the Registrar's Office;
• Managing the budget allocated to the Graduate School's staff support (StEM) project;
• Providing administrative support to the Graduate School's formal programme and social events:
• Booking rooms for workshops and the Graduate School's weekly seminar series;
• Arranging functions, venues and refreshments for the Graduate School's research days, conferences, and social events; 
• Handling travel arrangements for visiting international partners;
• Handling all financial transactions within the Graduate School Office;
• Liaising with internal stakeholders to identify the Graduate School's webpage requirements and ensuring the maintenance of the website.

Student administration:

• Using and updating the SUNStudent platform with the relevant student documentation, including signed MoUs and progress reports;
• Responsible for the annual updating of PhD student data for subsidy purposes;
• Keeping supervisors and departmental chairs informed of registered students and of their responsibilities regarding these students;
• Providing project management-based workflow/due dates to each student and supervisor to ensure that these stakeholders are informed of the dates by which approval is required by the Faculty Board. 
• Research management, information, and processes
• This position will directly impact the full research output scope of the Faculty. Optimal management of PhD and masters' completion rates as well as publication targets, NRF research contracts and the overall research profile of the Faculty, which will also play into the international profile of the Faculty;
• Supporting the development of directives and practices to ensure compliance with SU's policies;
• Providing related management information to line manager and Faculty management;
• Coordinating and supporting departments  with the annual submission of journal publications, books, etc., where needed; 
• Compiling and analysing publication and bibliometric data to be included in the Faculty's Research Evaluation Framework;
• Contributing to the writing and preparation of the Graduate School's annual progress report, as well as the Faculty's annual research report;
• Managing the Faculty's general "research shares scheme" and its allocated budget; Ensuring that the shares data are adjusted annually, that research incentives are paid, and that the researchers are provided with information thereof, fielding enquiries from researchers, ensuring that researchers have the required knowledge of their shares and responding to enquiries in this regard.

Job Requirements

• An honours level qualification (at NQF Level 8) with at least four years experience in the coordination of doctoral and postgraduate administration processes, OR a post-matric qualification (at NQF level 6) with at least six years' experience in the coordination of doctoral and postgraduate administration processes;
• The ability to make decisions and work under pressure in uncertain circumstances and without clear directives;
• The ability to work independently and set own priorities;
• Demonstrated ability to work with internal and external stakeholders at various levels of hierarchy;
• Experience and knowledge of and insight into research processes and research management;
• Strong written and verbal communication skills in English;
• Experience in financial administration;
• Excellent interpersonal skills;
• Proven ability to work with MS Excel.

Recommendation    

• Preferably a master's degree;
• Experience in or knowledge of the academic publishing and doctoral processes;
• Knowledge of SU's financial and student administration systems.