Records Specialist

About the Position :

This role is an on-campus, in-person position.

The Advancement Records Specialist is an entry-level position with a primary responsibility of providing responsive service to internal and external stakeholders by ensuring records are processed accurately and in a timely manner, communicating professionally, and helping resolve data-related issues.

The specialist is responsible for data maintenance, research, and continuous improvement to enhance data quality and operational efficiency, while ensuring compliance with data privacy laws such as FERPA.

Essential Functions :

• Customer Service : Serves as the point-of-contact for support between internal and external stakeholders and Constituent Records; troubleshoots and assesses records-related inquiries and requests to determine solutions for each request. Requires knowledge of internal processes and responsibilities across university and DEA divisions. Collaborates with other Development teams to ensure constituent information is accurate. Investigates and resolves issues related to communication preferences, mailings, solicitations, etc. Researches and verifies historical student information, relationships, and other personal information. Generates and prepares weekly reports to alert fundraisers to recent changes to donor records.
• Data Maintenance and Enrichments :  Creates and maintains new records and relationships between records by cross-referencing data from multiple sources (responsible for updating faculty / staff records, assists with the new parent process, biological and demographic updates from gifts processing, alumni updates from web forms, etc.). Reviews a variety of sources (newsletters, media, reports) for opportunities to enrich data (employment, relationship, religious conference affiliation, deceasing updates, etc.). Scans and appends constituent news, documentation, letters, etc.to records.
• Compliance and Quality Control : Conducts daily audits and designs additional queries to identify and correct data irregularities.Uses automated workflows to make mass updates to records in batch and applies high level of attention to complex scenarios that require manual review.

Qualifications

Education and Experience :

A high school diploma or equivalent is required. A Bachelor's degree is preferred.

A minimum of one year of work experience in a data entry, customer service, or administrative support role is required.

Experience with auditing data, compliance with data privacy laws (FERPA), and / or handling of donor and academic records, including personal information changes, is preferred.

Experience with CRM record management desired. Experience in higher education is a plus.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities :

Candidate must demonstrate strong verbal and interpersonal communication skills, as well as the ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with a wide range of constituencies in a diverse community. Must also demonstrate the ability to communicate effectively in writing. A strong customer service orientation is essential.

Candidate must have the ability to assess available information and supporting documents, consider past examples, and determine appropriate action. Must also have the ability to process large quantities of data while maintaining data integrity, a high rate of accuracy, and a strong focus on attention to detail. The ability to work independently and within a team environment is essential.

Candidate must demonstrate a strong proficiency in MS Word and MS Excel. A working knowledge of CRM systems (such as Blackbaud, Salesforce, or PeopleSoft) for managing constituent and donor records is preferred.

Physical and Environmental Demands :