Economic Research Assistant

$45,760 - $52,998/Yr

Chapman University - Orange, CA

Full-time

Orange, CA

Educational Services

About the position

The Economic Research Assistant position at Chapman University involves providing essential administrative and project coordination support to the A. Gary Anderson Center for Economic Research (ACER). The role is integral to the daily operations of the ACER office, where the assistant will be responsible for responding to public inquiries, preparing various documents for the Director's review, and maintaining subscriber relations. The assistant will also cover the front desk, ensuring smooth communication and operations within the office. In addition to administrative duties, the Economic Research Assistant will play a key role in project coordination. This includes preparing and maintaining a departmental project calendar, tracking project progress, and ensuring effective communication among involved staff and departments. The assistant will also be responsible for updating and coordinating materials needed for quarterly surveys and Economic Forecast events, ensuring that all project documents are complete and properly stored. The position also requires data and research support, where the assistant will perform data entry and maintain various databases related to local, state, and national economic indicators. The assistant will assist in collecting and maintaining data for ACER's research papers and publications, as well as in the production of the Economic and Business Review and forecast publications. This includes creating tables and graphs for presentations, writing press releases, and tabulating survey results. The role demands a strong attention to detail and the ability to work collaboratively within a team environment.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate the daily operations of ACER office.
• Respond to public inquiries for information and provide responses.
• Prepare memos, letters and forms for Director's review.
• Track publication sales and expenditures.
• Maintain mailing lists and develop and maintain subscriber relations.
• Maintain application list for the Certificate in Applied Statistical Analysis and communicate to Registrar's Office.
• Cover the front desk.
• Prepare a departmental project calendar and maintain timeline for surveys.
• Track project progress and report updates to Director.
• Ensure adequate and accurate communications with involved staff/departments.
• Update and coordinate materials and resources needed to conduct quarterly surveys and to implement Economic Forecast events.
• Ensure project documents are complete, current and stored appropriately.
• Perform data entry and maintain ACER's local, state and national databases.
• Update indexes of the U.S., California and local leading economic indicators.
• Assist in collecting, entering and maintaining data relating to ACER's research papers and publications.
• Assist in the preparation of data for inclusion in the Economic and Business Review, covering the U.S., California, Orange County and other regions.
• Assist in the production the Review.
• Assist in the production of the forecast publication for the Inland Empire.
• Assist in creating tables and graphs for presentations and publications.
• Assist in writing and producing press releases.
• Assist in tabulating and disseminating survey results.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Experience in coordinating projects.
• Experience in creating tables and graphs to summarize data, preferably of financial or economics data.
• Experience with database maintenance and management.
• Knowledge of survey collection and data analyses procedures preferred.
• Strong computer skills in the use of word processing, spreadsheet, presentation applications, preferably of Microsoft Office Suite software.
• Strong writing and editing skills to prepare and proofread clear, concise and grammatically correct business correspondence, reports and publications.
• Excellent problem-solving and analytical skills to formulate and communicate financial and economics-based information.
• Strong organizational skills to plan, prioritize deadlines and perform multiple tasks without constant direct supervision.
• Demonstrated effective communications and interpersonal skills to interact with diverse individuals and groups at all organizational levels, both within and outside of the university.
• Excellent telephone etiquette skills.
• Skill to perform arithmetic calculations for basic accounting functions.
• Technical skills to learn and use enterprise and department tools and systems.
• Proven ability to work as a part of a team.
• Proven ability to establish and maintain accurate files.
• Attention to detail.

Nice-to-haves

• Knowledge of economics, statistics and academic research support as related to this position.
• Knowledge of survey collection and data analyses procedures.
• Understanding of survey collection processes.
• Experience using Quark software.