The employee serves as committee coordinator to AEA committees. The work involves considerable problem-solving, logistical organization, excellent verbal and written communication skills, grant work, attention to detail, and the ability to effectively manage multiple priorities.  The employee will also have responsibility for other AEA activities including (but not limited to) tasks such as membership and subscription enrollment, answering phones, postage reports, journal claims and inventory, and other general office duties as needed. 

The Committee Coordinator is part of the American Economic Association at Vanderbilt University and is a key and critical leader responsible for the coordination of AEA committees and providing support to the AEA Senior Office Manager.  This position manages the coordination of the AEA’s most active committee: the Committee on the Status of Women in the Economics Profession (CSWEP) as well as the Committee on Professional Climate, and the coordination of our other committees, as needed.

About the Work Unit: 

The American Economic Association (AEA) is an educational organization whose purpose is to encourage economic research, especially the historical and statistical study of the actual conditions of industrial life, to issue publications on economics subjects and to encourage freedom of economics discussion.  Oversight of the day-to-day operations of the AEA is provided within this work unit. The membership, subscriptions, annual meeting, committee coordination, Job Offering for Economists, accounting, and management of operations occurs within the work unit. 

Duties and Responsibilities:

Employee must exercise judgment and initiative in interpreting committee policy and developing supporting procedures. Work is often of a highly confidential nature and is performed under general, rather than specific, direction. 

Tasks include:

Administratively support committees’ annual Board Meetings, including scheduling; agenda and materials preparation; serving as scribe and drafting the minutes.      Maintain and draft at the direction of the Board Committee supporting files, such as policies, procedures, and archives. Travel to the Annual AEA Meeting, providing advance planning, logistical and administrative support for committee activities, including (but not limited to) Board Meeting and Dinner, Mentoring Breakfasts, Business Meeting, Paper Sessions, Roundtables and Hospitality Suite.  Work with the committees’ Chair Paper Sessions at the Annual AEA/ASSA Meetings, serving as point person for advertising the Call for Papers, processing paper submissions, committee and participant correspondence, handling publishing of sub-set of papers in the American Economic Review, and logistical set-up of sessions with the AEA. Create and maintain web design and social media communications to clearly communicate purpose and current activities of the committees.  Work with the committees and the AEA Web Coordinator to update content at cswep.org, csmgep.org, and other web pages, as needed.  Maintain internal contact database, including making and implementing recommendations for streamlining existing databases into a single online platform.  Work with the AEA Director of Finance to track and reconcile the committees’ Operating Budgets and Award Accounts.  Maintain internal budget spreadsheets, providing budgetary information and recommendations as requested by the committee’s Chair and Board.      Support the Chair in yearly budget request(s) to the AEA. Work with the other Committee Coordinators to address all needs as they come throughout the year.  Read through grant documents and assist chairs in keeping the guidelines and reporting requirements.        Provide administrative support for the various committee awards (as needed) including advertising; processing of nomination packets; attending committee meetings; correspondence with nominators, committee members and winners; and production of related materials, such as press releases, web copy, winner plaques, and a program for the awarding ceremony at the Business Meeting. Provide support to the Economics Summer Fellows Program such as advertising, web copy, application processing, and correspondence. Develop a plan to communicate newsletter content, upcoming conferences, and other committees’ activities on social media platforms.  Other tasks as assigned by the committee’s Chair or the Board and AEA Senior Office Manager. Coordinate with meeting staff to review contracts and other meeting space for meetings. Review and process expense reports.      Process membership and subscription enrollments. Provide backup support for general office activities such as answering phones, opening mail, and checking email as needed.    Work with but not limited to, File Maker Pro, Eventbrite, Google Drive, and WordPress as needed. 

Supervisory Relationships: 

This position reports directly to the Senior Office Manager; it does not have supervisory responsibility.

Qualifications:

A bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution of higher education is preferred but not required.  Three years of experience is preferred.

The ideal candidate will have experience in:

Database Management Copy Drafting and Editing Events Organization Budget Tracking and Projection Social Media and communication/public relations Familiarity with File Maker Pro, Eventbrite.com, MailChimp, Google Drive, WordPress, and HTML code preferred but not required. Considerable problem-solving, logistical organization, and excellent verbal and written communication skills. Aptitude to prioritize work, multi-task, and meet deadlines in a team-centered, time-constrained environment. Strong knowledge of MS Word, Excel, and PowerPoint Effectively managing multiple projects/priorities Ability to work both as a member of a team & independently