Staff

The Director of Operations reports to the Chair and is the highest-ranking non-academic authority in the Department and is responsible for performing the highest level of administrative and policy analysis on a broad range of issues for the Chair. Independently responsible for the overall administration of the Department, the Director of Operations provides leadership and management direction within Mechanical Engineering. The Director of Operations is accountable for the following major areas of responsibility: Managerial Leadership, Strategic Planning, Budget & Finance, Academic Administration (including Student Services), Technical & Instructional Support (including IT), Human Resources & Administrative Management, Space & Facilities, and Special Programs.

Serves as the Academic HR Supervisor and Liaison for all matters of academic personnel management and administration for the ME Department. Assists the Department Chair, Manager, and Committees in formulating short- and long-range plans involving the academic personnel needs of the Department. Oversees and facilitates the academic personnel process for all academic titles including ladder rank faculty, adjunct appointments, emeritus, recall, professors of the graduate school, lecturers and joint appointments. Manages the faculty recruitment process. Coordinates and processes faculty summer salary appointments. Monitors award announcements, organizes material, and manages submissions for faculty awards. Contact for Human Capital Management (HCM) and APBears transactions for academic personnel.

Provides general administrative support for the department, and manages the department website, communications, and various events.

Provides general administrative support for the department chair, and manages the department chair’s calendar. Responsible for event coordination, conference rooms/breezeway reservations, department visitor parking, ERSO Visiting Scholar requests, and card key checkout for conference room reservations.

Responsible for all financial transactions for Mechanical Engineering, Nuclear Engineering, and Jacobs Institute for Design Innovation which comprise the financial cluster. Performs BFS and BearBuy reviewer duties as appropriate. Insures that all documents are in compliance with Department, College and Campus policies and procedures. Analyzes and resolves non-routine accounting problems.  Serves as primary liaison to department personnel, other campus departments and outside vendors. Researches and resolves all payroll problems.

Responsible for financial transactions for Mechanical Engineering, Nuclear Engineering and Jacobs Institute for Design Innovation. Performs reviewer duties as appropriate. Insures that all documents are in compliance with Department, College and Campus policies and procedures.

Principal IT technical architect at the Mechanical Engineering Department, with the responsibility on the design, implementation, management and future technical direction of the department’s instructional and administrative computing environment.

Assistant to the Vice-Chair of Instruction and the Vice-Chair of Graduate Studies. Responsible for course scheduling and the coordination of the GSI/Reader hiring. Serves as the primary graduate student services adviser and admissions processor for the M. Eng students/applicants. Advises prospective graduate students and assists with M.S., Ph.D. and bachelors student administrative tasks as needed.

Assistant to the Vice-Chair of Graduate Studies. Professional academic counselor in all areas of academic advising to current graduate students and applicants to our graduate program. Assist students in interpreting policies and procedures regarding the preliminary and qualifying exams and progress towards completion of their degrees.

The Department of Mechanical Engineering Student Services Advisor (SSA) serves undergraduates and advises the Vice-Chair of Instruction in all aspects of the program, including curriculum planning  and undergraduate student affairs. The SSA is an Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) advisor and collaborates with the Vice-Chair for EDI to plan, develop, and administer specialized programs designed to enhance student success. The SSA serves graduate students, and advises the Vice-Chair for Graduate Study and is the admissions processor for 5th year master students/applicants.