Student Office Assistant Employee Handbook
Contents
1. Usually these have been discussed with and approved by the Senior Programs Coordinator If there is ever a situation where you feel that a staff member has given you a task without your supervisor s approval or that the task does not fall within your job description please speak with Senior Programs Coordinator Policies Attire and Personal Conduct The ECE department is a casual office There are however a few standards for dress and conduct that should be adhered to Your appearance should reflect the fact that you are working in a visible role within a high traffic university office Essentially this means that you should be clean and presentable If you are not you will not be permitted to work While jeans and t shirts are acceptable attire they should not be worn out torn frayed holes etc Shirts with printed screened imagery are not permitted Camouflage cut offs sweatshirts shorts and undershirts are not permitted Additionally clothing should not display offensive or obscene images messages The same level of professionalism should be applied to your conduct within the department Chewing gum is absolutely not permitted Remember to speak politely and be as helpful as possible when answering a telephone or interacting with a visitor No matter who the caller is or where they are calling from you must always be professional and courteous If you feel that someone is being rude to you please direct that person to a staff m2. checks that do not have a mailbox can be put in the drawer at the front desk Their owners can then pick these up at their leisure Blue These should go in the drawer at the front desk These are the primary type of check people will come to the front desk to ask for usually referring to them as paychecks or stipends When someone asks for their check please ask to see their BU ID card to verify their identity After you give someone a blue check be certain they sign and date the sheet on the front desk Green These checks need to be logged in the reimbursement check logbook that is kept in the front desk s top drawer the change drawer After it is logged in you should email the recipient to let them know that a reimbursement check has arrived for them and that they should pick it up in the office When someone comes for one of these checks they must sign and date next to the entry you made in the logbook Please remember to never put blue or green checks in mailboxes as they are live checks If anyone has a question about their paycheck please direct them to the Financial Administrator or in his absence the Assistant Director Please paper clip checks direct deposit slips for the same person together If a check or direct deposit slip has not been picked up in two weeks please email the person using one of the template emails found on the front desk computers If the person does not pick up the paycheck by the next Friday please email
3. them again If the person doesn t pick up the direct deposit slip within two weeks of the first email please shred all of their direct deposit slips in the drawer Mail Mail is delivered to the faculty mailroom PHO321 around noon daily Please coordinate with your shift mate to ensure that there is coverage at the front desk It should be sorted as soon as possible to avoid people going through it on their own If there are any items for people who do not have a mailbox in either the faculty or graduate mailrooms you should attempt to figure out where the mail should be delivered using the online BU directory and then write that address on the item and put it in the interdepartmental mailbox If any mail is for an undergraduate or anyone else who wouldn t have a departmental mailbox somewhere you can email them to let them know that we have mail for them that they should pick up Any mystery mail can be given to the Senior Programs Coordinator to determine where it should go FedEx Slips and Package Pickups FedEx slips are found in the second drawer on the right side of the front desk under the money drawer The department provides both International and Domestic slips only to those working with affiliated faculty members For both International and Domestic slips please ensure that both professors and students write the grant number they would like to charge in the Reference section provided International shipment senders must also comp
4. with our department it is our responsibility to try to send them off in the right direction If you are unable to answer a visitor s question off the top of your head the ECE website should be able to help see the The ECE Website section for details Please remember that some visitors may have difficulty speaking English In these cases be patient and do your best to understand them Using basic words and speaking in a clear and precise tone will aid comprehension Refrain from speaking loudly yelling or speaking rapidly as doing so will likely make the situation more difficult If you are unable to help a visitor after several attempts due to a language barrier or any other reason please ask for help from a staff member Telephones The front desk is responsible for answering the following lines 2811 our main office number front desk phone nearest the main doorway 4782 the secondary phone at the front desk 3071 usually people who have misdialed or SPAM calls 9880 the Chairman s line As a Student Office Assistant you should in most cases be the first person to answer a call on these lines The proper telephone greeting is Good morning afternoon ECE Department your name speaking To answer a call on a line that is not directly linked to your phone pick up the handset and press the button that the flashing arrow is pointing to Many of the people who call on the main lines are looking for someone outsid
5. Castanon b Press the button for the 9880 line to reconnect to the person on hold c Ask the person if they would like you to take a message If they do be sure to confirm their name phone number where they are calling from and why they are calling Please be sure to repeat back the phone number to confirm it is correct d Send an email to Professor Castanon with this information including the date and time of the call A ee D a Voicemail The main office phone s voicemail should be checked every morning for messages To access the voicemail dial 3 9999 on the main office phone When prompted enter 1234 as the password Checks Checks need to be picked up at the College of Engineering Dean s Office 44 Cummington Street 6 floor after 11 30am every Friday and on the last day of the month If you are working the 9 00am 12 00pm shift on Friday you will need to coordinate with your shift mate who is picking up the paychecks at the COE to ensure that these are collected in a timely manner There are three types of checks Pink These are direct deposit pay stubs Blue These are regular paychecks Green These are reimbursement checks and usually come in the daily mail After you pick up the checks you should integrate them alphabetically with older checks of the same color You should then distribute them as follows Pink These should be distributed to the appropriate mailboxes in the faculty and graduate mailrooms Any
6. Student Office Assistant Employee Handbook Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Boston University Welcome to the ECE Department Before you is a painstakingly crafted document designed to be a guide for both new and returning Student Office Assistants of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering This handbook should serve two purposes to train you in the intricacies of working for the ECE department and as an accessible reference manual for day to day questions It explains the general tasks and procedures you need to know for this job and answers many commonly asked questions Your Job As a Student Office Assistant in this department your primary role is to support the administrative staff Specifically you have been hired to aid the Senior Programs Coordinator Academic Programs Manager Director Assistant Director and Chairman in their daily tasks thus helping the department run more efficiently Your Supervisor The Senior Programs Coordinator directly supervises the position of Student Office Assistant This means that all tasks related to your job will come from this person or will be approved by this person or in some instances the Academic Programs Manager who is the Senior Programs Coordinator s supervisor Additionally any questions or complaints you may have about your job should be directed to him her Occasionally other ECE employees will approach you with tasks to perform for them
7. asonably quickly If you need help immediately you can call one of the Systems Administrators or the Systems Manager to ask for help If any of the copiers or printers in our office the faculty mailroom the graduate student mailroom or rooms 402 and 502 have problems paper jams out of toner etc we are responsible for getting them to work again We stock toner for most of the machines in our department so if a machine is reporting that it is out of toner please find the correct toner in the storage room and follow the instructions on the machine or the box to replace it Usually when a copier has problems the machine will display how to fix it the printers may not If the problem is beyond what can be reasonably fixed by us please notify the Senior Programs Coordinator so the appropriate servicing company can be contacted The ECE Website Our website bu edu ece is a great resource when you need to find information pertaining to the ECE department On this site you can find a full directory of all ECE personnel including faculty staff and graduate students the staff tools which includes the electronic timesheet a listing of upcoming events and news and general information about the department among other things Also accessible from this site is the Data Portal The Data Portal is where you can access the package check in system and any other confidential functions that may be assigned to you Events Throughout the y
8. desk These documents contain all of the information they will need to properly apply for access trough Zaius You are responsible for signing up for ECE Grad Student Zaius access This will provide you access to the mail rooms and the kitchen and will reduce dependence on the front desk keys Once a request is made through the system the appropriate room manager will receive an email and decide whether or not to approve the request If there are any questions they can be directed to the Senior Programs Coordinator as he she is also the departmental room access coordinator Keys If someone needs to checkout a key faculty staff grad students who need them permanently for their offices please have them speak to the Senior Programs Coordinator There are two sets of front desk keys The black set of keys is hidden behind a monitor at the front desk These keys are never to be borrowed by staff members The red keys may be borrowed by staff members but only for short periods of time never to extend beyond a few hours These master keys will allow you to provide access to conference rooms and offices should professors find themselves locked out of their rooms It is essential that you keep a close eye on them Office Supplies All bulk office supplies folders pens toner etc with the exception of paper and water are located in the supply room The key for this room is the master key for the third floor This room should be kept i
9. e the office and therefore have to be transferred To transfer calls 1 Make sure the caller is on your line and not on hold Press Trans Conf Dial the number you are transferring to ex 3 4782 or 8 1035 Press Trans Conf again ee Se Press Rls to complete the transfer You can now hang up Line 9880 Prof David Castanon s phone If Professor Castanon has not answered his line 9880 after the second ring and the Assistant to the Chair the other person who should pick up that line besides David is not at the desk or has not picked up after the third ring pick up the line and follow this protocol Answer with Good morning afternoon ECE Chairman s office your name speaking Ask the person their name from where they are calling and the reason for calling Tell the caller that you will check to see if David is in his office Put the caller on hold Press the Int button on your phone this will allow you to call one of the office phones through the intercom system 6 Dial 10 to call Professor Castanon and tell him who the person is where they are calling from and what they want Be sure you know the caller s name organization and reason for calling before contacting Professor Saleh on the intercom 7 Ifhe wants to speak to the person you can hang up 8 Ifhe does not want to speak to the person or he is not there a Press Rls to end your call with Professor
10. ear the ECE department has numerous events that range greatly in size During the academic year it can be expected that the department will have colloquiums academic talks usually given by visitors Research Spotlight Seminars RSS or other events on a weekly basis In almost all cases these events are catered to some extent Colloquiums are fully catered events that do not need to be set up or broken down by us RSS get cheese and crackers fruit and baked goods supplied by catering but we set up the tables and put out the food We also make coffee for RSS There are also occasional ECE faculty meetings that will be catered in a similar fashion to the RSS The department also holds small meetings several times throughout the month on Fridays for a variety of committees We make coffee and set it up creamers cups etc for these meetings Closing the Office When closing the office please be sure to close the Faculty work room and the ECE mail room as well as the both main office doors Clean up the front desk area it should be completely clear of any left over papers and miscellaneous items Both the keys drawer and the money drawer should also be locked at the end of the day This must be done before leaving to do a hand carry if you are the last student on shift The keys on a red plastic key holder can be found in a cup at the front desk The first drawer on the left side holding the master keys must be locked and both the first a
11. ease fill to at least 75 but do not overstock to the point of sloppiness The Poland Springs water cooler should have a new jug put on it if the current jug is completely gone If you are unable to do this the jug is heavy please ask someone in the office for help Change should be cleared out of the coffee machine each morning The machine can be opened with the key with the c If there is no room in the change drawer for the quarters collected from the machine please roll the change and place it in the bottom drawer Similarly if other change compartments are starting to fill up please roll these up and place these in the bottom drawer as well Extra quarters should never be placed into other change compartments that may have space Roll them up Cleaning Out the Refrigerator Every Friday at 4 00pm the refrigerator in the large kitchen needs to be cleaned out All perishable food items that do not have a reasonable expiration date should be thrown out If you are working the afternoon shift on Fridays please coordinate with your shift mate to ensure that this is done in a timely manner and that there is coverage for the front desk If you are unsure about the procedure please reference the note posted on the refrigerator as it outlines the policy we adhere to Hand Carries A few times a day students will be sent out on runs to various parts of campus to deliver important mail Generally students will be responsible for sch
12. eduling these runs themselves but should notify their supervisor the Senior Programs Coordinator when they are going out to do these trips A hand carry should be done when there are two or more hand carry items in the box or if an item has sat in the box for a period greater than 2 hours If possible these runs should be scheduled at the midpoint and end of a shift Most often the deliveries are going to either the main College of Engineering building 44 48 Cummington or to the financial offices in 25 Buick Street If you are not sure where the destination is please ask before you leave Also if you need fare for the train while you are making deliveries feel free to use quarters from the change drawer at the front desk Copy Machines The department has two main copy machines not including the many others located throughout the various support and lab rooms we administer that we use regularly The main machine that should be used if you need to make copies is in the workroom of our office The other machine is in the faculty mailroom You should only use this machine if the one in our office is already in use or is out of order The code you should use for both of these copiers is login 1024 and password 5844 Computer or Technical Problems If you encounter any kind of a computer problem you should notify a member of the department s IT personnel If the problem is not urgent you can email eceit bu edu and one of them should reply re
13. ember Personal Phone Calls We understand that there may be times when you need to make personal calls while at work If you make such a call while in the office please speak in a low tone of voice and keep the call brief Illness Everyone gets sick Please do not feel that it is necessary to come in to work on days that you are not feeling well We neither expect nor want you to show up on these days you will feel better faster at home and you will not pass your illness on to fellow office workers That said you are expected to let us know before your shift begins that you will not be coming to work due to illness Lateness Absence If something unexpected keeps you from arriving to work on time please notify the office as soon as possible that you will be late If you know ahead of time that on a specific day you would like to be late please discuss this with your supervisor and he she will consider your request School Related Lateness Absence As this is an academic campus we understand that there are certain times each year when school responsibilities will monopolize your time making it impossible to balance work with class requirements If you anticipate a situation like this please discuss it with your supervisor ahead of time We will consider your request to be late or absent and as it is school related will almost always approve it However there may be instances when the office will be especially busy and we will need y
14. ition please run a search for packages that are checked in and pending for the last 90 days Mark as received on the website all packages that have been signed for on our sign in sheet Please place a dot on the sign in sheet all packages that have been completed both on the website and the sheet If you see a professor who has a package in let them know Oftentimes they re doing research and teaching and forget to pick up their packages while they are in If you are scheduled on Friday afternoons please go to the package reporting site and click on the Remind Recipients button if a package has been there for more than a week If a package is missing from the work room but was not properly signed out please use the email template found at the front desk to contact the recipient and remind them to properly sign out their package Conference Rooms There are six conference rooms that are available for ECE use through online reservation These rooms are 338 339 404 428 442 and 536 People who would like to reserve a room must make a request through the department s online reservation calendar This calendar can be found at http Avww bu edu ece admin calendar When a reservation is made the Senior Programs Coordinator will receive an email to revue the request and then he she has the ability to implement the reservation The Senior Programs Coordinator is the only person who has authorization to make or change these reservations on the cale
15. lete a Commercial Invoice form This is a customs slip that must be completed in full for the document to be delivered When a person completes a slip please tear off the top slip and keep this copy in the corresponding monthly folder These folders are found in the same desk drawer The front desk may be asked to place package pick up orders for any of the many carrier services We are able to do so provided that we don t handle any of the financial aspects of it Once a pick up has been scheduled a package is placed on the back left side of the front desk We generally balance it along the top ledge so that it is clearly visible to the delivery staff Packages We receive packages throughout the day from UPS FedEx Airborne Express DHL USPS and other local carries All packages must be logged in the Check in new package page in Data Portal Please fill in as much information as possible on the Data Portal including P O number and Notes After a package has been logged clearly write the recipient s last name on the box and the confirmation number that pops up after clicking the Submit button and place it against on the shelves in the ECE work room If a person receives more than one package but from different vendors each package must be logged in separately Multiple packages for one person from one vendor should be noted in the notes section of the package check in If you are working the afternoon shift and are at the front desk pos
16. marked pens pencils markers highlighters should have several boxes of each color in it This includes making sure that the paper cabinet above the copier is fully stocked In the graduate mailroom and service rooms 1 2 Make sure that the printers and copiers in the graduate mailroom PHO318 are reasonably full of paper Also be sure to fill the cabinet above the large copier with reams of paper When refilling toner please place box near large garbage cans in paper room Both the morning and afternoon shifts must check and refill the copiers if necessary Make sure that copiers in the graduate service rooms PHO402 and PHO502 are reasonably full of paper Also be sure to fill the cabinets in those rooms with reams of paper In the large kitchen Every morning the large kitchen PHO320 should be stocked with coffee water and related supplies Bulk supplies and coffee for the large kitchen are kept primarily in the small kitchen Water jugs are in the same room as the bulk paper PHO386 1 All boxes of coffee should be filled Backup supplies of each coffee are in the cabinet to left of the open boxes and should be used to refill the boxes on display If there are less than four boxes of any type of coffee please contact the Senior Programs Coordinator so that they may contact Atlantic Coffee to reorder more Coffee cups sugar Sweet n Low Splenda stirrers Coffeemate and Mini Moos should also be fully stocked Pl
17. n good order with minimal clutter and obstruction We also keep a smaller quantity of office supplies in the cabinets behind the front desk Please also keep these cabinets in good order Paper is located in PHO386 the room next to the freight elevator The key for this room is 2J3B2 not the master key If you notice that we are running out of or no longer have a particular item please notify the Senior Programs Coordinator so he she can order new supplies Stocking Supplies In the main office 1 Make sure that the printers and copier at the front desk and in the workroom are full of paper When refilling toner please place box near large garbage cans in paper room Both the morning and afternoon shifts must check and refill the copiers if necessary 2 An extra ream of paper should be at the front desk and three reams in the workroom 3 Make sure that there are sufficient supplies in the cabinets behind the front desk In faculty mailroom 1 2 Make sure that the printer copier and fax machine are full of paper The machines should be filled as follows the copiers drawers should be filled to about 90 capacity the printer should be filled to approximately 50 capacity and the fax machine should have whatever amount seems reasonable loaded into it Please do not overfill them as this may cause a paper jam Make sure that all the supply drawers and cabinets have a full supply of what their labels list For instance the drawer
18. nd second drawer on the right side holding the money and the Fedex slips must also be locked Final Statement We know that no one is perfect and that everyone makes mistakes However there are some mistakes that are more serious than others Mistakes such as leaving confidential materials out where anyone can read them can result in discipline or termination Also please remember that while this is a casual office environment a professional atmosphere must be maintained and instruction from your supervisor or other staff members must be followed If you have trouble understanding exactly what you are supposed to do or if you don t believe you can do what you have been asked to do please let someone know If we do not know that you do not know how to do a task we assign you we will keep giving you similar tasks Communication is the key to making this a pleasant and enjoyable working environment BUECE
19. ndar If someone asks to reserve a room please give them the URL above or give them the yellow instruction sheet that is on the front desk However if they want the room right away or sometime later that day please have them speak directly to the Senior Programs Coordinator Equipment In addition to conference rooms we also reserve LCD projectors and laptops for professors and students Our department has five projectors and two laptops that can be signed out by people who are associated with the department these are in the cabinet built in to the pillar across from 324D E it is opened with the master key There are also some overhead projectors in the storage room and a TV DVD player and VCR in room 338 that can be reserved The same reservation process is used for the equipment as is used for the conference rooms When someone comes to pick up the equipment they have requested they must sign it out on the sheet that sits on the filing cabinet across from the storage cabinet that the projectors and laptops are kept in Card Access Many of the rooms in our building are controlled by card swipe access If someone requests card access to one of our rooms we control the first through fifth floors please instruct them to request the access through our online system This system called Zaius can be accessed at www bu edu eng zaius If they are requesting this in person you can give them one of the blue sheets that are on the front
20. ou to come in despite your request School Work amp Book Reading Student Office Assistants are permitted to do school work while in the office if they are not engaged in office duties If there are regular daily tasks that need to be done they should be attended to before students begin studying or doing homework Additionally if a task is assigned to a Student Office Assistant while that student is in the midst of doing schoolwork he she should immediately attend to that task Please remember we are paying you to work for our department not to do your homework our office needs come before your academic needs while you are at work If you have academic work that needs to be done and you know it will interfere with your office work please notify your supervisor that you will not be coming in to the office and complete your academic work at home Additionally recreational book magazine reading at the front desk and has been the basis of complaints from many of our faculty members and will not be permitted Confidentiality There are times when you will be handling confidential materials in the ECE office If you are not comfortable handling such materials please let us know When working with confidential documents please be sure to keep them out of public view This includes leaving them on the front desk or counters or unattended anywhere else where visitors can see them All materials you encounter should be considered confidential and sh
21. ould not be discussed with anyone but the person who assigned the work to you If you have any questions regarding particular documents please let your supervisor know Acceptable Use of Computer Resources The Boston University Conditions of Use and Policy on Computing Ethics govern use of all departmental computer and electronic resources See http Awww bu edu computing ethics for details Timesheets and Paychecks Electronic timesheets are due by noon on the Monday following the workweek you are submitting hours for You can find the electronic timesheet system in the staff tools section of the ECE website Office Duties Reception Reception is one of the most important roles of a Student Office Assistant There should always be at least one student sitting at the front desk at all times You will be sharing the front desk with the Senior Programs Coordinator but there may be times when both front desks positions will be occupied by Student Office Assistants Please keep the front desk clean and orderly Keep your bags tucked away and the desk area mostly visible When a visitor approaches the front desk greet them pleasantly and politely Keep in mind that we are a service oriented office and that one of our goals is to help everyone who comes in here as best we can It is common that our office is the first place people come to when they are lost in the Photonics building Though they may not be looking for a person or room associated
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