Job Description

Description

The

Dean's Office

within the

Faculty of Graduate Studies

is currently seeking a Full-time Regular

Graduate Awards Account Administrator

.


The Faculty of Graduate Studies has 8000+ graduate students enrolled in 75+ credentials across the university. In support of graduate student success and in recognition of academic excellence, the Graduate Award Office disburses $41M in scholarships and awards annually.


Reporting to the Manager, Graduate Awards with daily supervision and direction from the Team Lead, Graduate Awards, the Graduate Awards Accounts Administrator works both independently and as a member of a collaborative, student-centred team. The nature of the work is one of continuous change, shifting priorities and consecutive deadlines requiring the ability to organize, prioritize, multi-task, and manage high levels of stress at peak periods. The role requires strong written communication and interpersonal skills, confidentiality, problem-solving skills, and the ability to exercise independent decision-making.


The incumbent provides financial information and support to a complex awards program. This position administers financial transactions in over 600 UCalgary operating projects, 320 of which are funded by scholarship endowments. The incumbent performs essential work in ensuring award accounts are accurate, up-to-date, and reconciled and ensures UCalgary funding from donors is processed and deposited in a timely manner.

Attention to detail is critical

- decisions made will have direct consequences for financial systems and students and the impact of errors is high. Unanticipated shortfalls/credit balances may limit the monetary support available to students, and can compromise government compliance, donor relations, stewardship and the university's reputation.


While normal work hours are Monday through Friday 8:30 am to 4:30 pm, additional hours may be required during peak competition periods.

Summary of Key Responsibilities

(job functions include but are not limited to):


Award and Endowment Account Financial Administration

Assists in the administration of all university graduate awards through operating projects funded annually by donor revenue, internal transfers from faculty and departments, income earned on approx. 320 university scholarship endowments and university based central operating funding for graduate awards totaling $41M per year. Works in partnership with faculties, programs, Development, and Finance ensuring funds are received in a timely manner in accordance with the terms and regulations provided by the source of funds and the policies of the university. with the goal of building and nurturing strong working relationships. Assists Advancement in confirming annual Requests for Funds amounts, donor changes. Regularly monitors account balances and transactions to ensure accurate and complete information, compliance with expenditure limits, and that over-expenditures do not occur. Resolves issues as necessary. Performs account reconciliations for the competitions that they are responsible for. Where variances occur, the account reconciliation must include an explanation and plan to resolve the variance by the following reconciliation period (within 7 days). Informs the Manager, Graduate Awards of overcommitted annual and endowed accounts and arranges for donor contact and financial statements as required. Collaborates with central Advancement staff on new account requests made to Financial Services. (Research Accounting and Treasury). Assists with new project set up including completion of New E-Project Request Form, compilation of all relevant agreements, award notices, budgets and terms of references, collection of appropriate signatures, and processing and follow-up of request through the Office of Research and Trust Accounting.

Award Administration

Manages the award email account, responding to inquiries clearly, accurately and professionally. Assists the Manager, Graduate Awards in developing new award terms of reference. Sets-up new awards in the PeopleSoft award system, publishes terms of reference to the Graduate Award Database, communicates new awards to programs when appropriate and manages changes to current terms of reference as required. Manages the International Graduate Tuition Award (IGTA) program; ensuring accurate payments are made to the student financial accounts each semester throughout the student, academic programs. Accurately interprets and applies administrative policy and procedures related to the IGTA program. The Award Administrator is also responsible for the projection and true-up for this competition. Manages the Achievement Awards competition, and the Medals and Prizes competition, ensuring recognitions are made properly and in a timely manner for their corresponding ceremonies. Manages Dissertations competitions, ensuring application packages are compliant with the documentation required for applications and forwarding successful application packages complete and in timely manner to the corresponding institution. Administers award payment processing. This includes running corresponding disbursements of awards by creating disbursement transactions, assisting when required with running registration verification processes, creating posting groups, and conducting manual reversals for student payments. Contributes to process maintenance and reporting improvement initiatives including, contribution to special project teams established to evaluate and identify improvements to enhance systems, reporting, transaction processing and general administration of financial accounts. Maintains knowledge of co-worker responsibilities as appropriate to assist in providing coverage for vacations, illness and peak workload periods. Assists with ad hoc reporting as required.

Journal Entry Requests

Creates GLJE journal entry requests for action and approval by Manager, the Office of the Controller and/or Research Accounting in PeopleSoft (PS) General Ledger to move funds between accounts. Ensures journal entry requests are complete, for the correct accounting period, have the correct chart field string codes on each journal, and have complete and accurate journal descriptions. Prepares complete and self-explanatory supporting source documents that provide an accurate and thorough explanation of the transaction recorded in the journal request. Retains supporting documentation in a form that can be retrieved at a future date for a period of 7 years in compliance with university retention rules. Processes correcting transactions in a timely and accurate manner according to established procedures. Sends other requests for transfers related to award programs and/or activities to budget officers in faculties/departments as per fund transfer rules established by Financial Services. Remains current with training and knowledge of/changes to established policies and procedures.

Financial Reporting

Generates regular reports of overcommitted annual and endowed accounts for submission to manager. Provides financial statements for submission to internal and external offices and agencies as required for the manager. Provides explanation of documents, provides information and support as required by management.

Year End Financial Administration

Stays current with and ensure compliance with Financial Services year end procedures and deadlines including completion of Annual Compliance. Ensures all journal entries are approved and posted in accordance with yearend deadlines.

Qualifications / Requirements:

An undergraduate university degree with a concentration in accounting, finance or business administration is required. Demonstrated knowledge of finance and accounting standards and practices is required. High proficiency with Microsoft Office applications (Excel, Word and Outlook) is required. Demonstrated organizational, analytical and problem-solving skills. Ability to independently and effectively meet deadlines while ensuring accuracy, completeness and attention to detail is required.
Enhanced ability to work with technology - experience with PeopleSoft (PS) Student Administration system and PowerBI preferred; an aptitude for using technology to improve efficiencies and streamline processes is a strong asset. Two years related experience in general ledger accounting and financial reporting preferable. Demonstrated success working collaboratively with cross-functional teams. Demonstrated success in being resourceful, creative, innovative and flexible. Exceptional interpersonal skills and professional manner.

Application Deadline:

October 29, 2025

A cover letter must be included with your resume.

We would like to thank all applicants in advance for submitting their resumes. Please note, only those candidates chosen to continue on through the selection process will be contacted.


This position is part of the AUPE bargaining unit, and falls under the

Specialist/Advisor Job Family, Phase 1.


For a listing of all management and staff opportunities at the University of Calgary, view our

Management and Staff Careers website

.

About the University of Calgary

UCalgary is Canada's entrepreneurial university, located in Canada's most enterprising city. It is a top research university and one of the highest-ranked universities of its age. Founded in 1966, its 36,000 students experience an innovative learning environment, made rich by research, hands-on experiences and entrepreneurial thinking. It is Canada's leader in the creation of start-ups. Start something today at the University of Calgary. For more information, visit ucalgary.ca.


The University of Calgary has launched an institution-wide Indigenous Strategy committing to creating a rich, vibrant, and culturally competent campus that welcomes and supports Indigenous Peoples, encourages Indigenous community partnerships, is inclusive of Indigenous perspectives in all that we do.

As an equitable and inclusive employer, the University of Calgary recognizes that a diverse staff/faculty benefits and enriches the work, learning and research experiences of the entire campus and greater community. We are committed to removing barriers that have been historically encountered by some people in our society. We strive to recruit individuals who will further enhance our diversity and will support their academic and professional success while they are here. In particular, we encourage members of the designated groups (women, Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, members of visible/racialized minorities, and diverse sexual orientation and gender identities) to apply. To ensure a fair and equitable assessment, we offer accommodation at any stage during the recruitment process to applicants with disabilities. Questions regarding [diversity] EDI at UCalgary can be sent to the Office of Institutional Commitments (

equity@ucalgary.ca

) and requests for accommodations can be sent to Human Resources (

hrhire@ucalgary.ca

).

Do you have most but not all the qualifications? Research show that women, racialized and visible minorities, and persons with disabilities are less likely to apply for jobs unless they meet every single qualification. At UCalgary we are committed to achieving equitable, diverse, inclusive and accessible employment practices and workplaces and encourage you to apply if you believe you are right for this role.

We encourage all qualified applicants to apply, however preference will be given to Canadian citizens and permanent residents of Canada.