Administrative Professionals Week 2022

It takes many talents to keep the McMaster School of Nursing running smoothly. During Administrative Professionals Week, we pause to celebrate the people behind the scenes. What does our team do? Here are just a few highlights!

Admissions staff process and assess over 7,000 applications in our undergraduate programs and another 130-140 applications in our graduate programs every year.  They field hundreds of inquiries from applicants. Staff work with the assistant deans of the programs to select applicants and send out offers. They represent the school at education fairs, where they answer questions and act as ambassadors for the school.

When the time comes for our new students to join the school, staff members enrol them in courses and help resolve any issues they may have. Staff work with professors to schedule classes. Some staff manage finances for the programs, prepare teaching contracts, help with scholarship applications, and organize events.

Our academic advisors work with students to ensure they are meeting the requirements of the program as they progress through their studies. They answer questions about regulations, university policies, and campus resources. They review students’ academic performance and process students to graduate.

Program staff prepare course materials and resources, upload information to the centralized student system, completing year-end course reports, and coordinate labs and exams. Our nursing students get hands-on learning in hospitals and other health care settings, and staff collaborate with dozens of community partners in the region to match hundreds of students to these placements every term.

Several staff support senior leaders and researchers. They manage calendars and plan important meetings, travel and conferences. Some staff help to prepare grant applications, presentations, publications, and reports, and deal with financial nitty gritty of grants in progress. They promote and share the activities of the school’s faculty, students and alumni through media.

The human resources team recruits new faculty members and staff. They help current employees with career development, Back to Mac, onboarding, and payroll. Team members also work with academic leaders to hire part-time instructors for courses and support the tenure and promotion process.  

Our financial staff prepare the annual budget for the school, conduct budget reviews, oversee the financial reporting, and provide the school’s leaders with accurate financial information for decision-making. They assess budgets for research grant proposals, and process and approve expense reports, vouchers and journal entries, and log deposits. They provide support to other staff members and faculty with financial questions.  

To learn more, here are some links to interviews we’ve done over the past few years with some members of our administrative team:  

CAITLIN SCHMID, MANAGER, ACADEMIC AND STAFF OPERATIONS

CARLA DAWSON, GRADUATE PROGRAM ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT

CHRIS GIBSON, BSCN PROGRAM MANAGER

DANIEL KRAWCHUK, ACCOUNTING AND ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT

MEDIHA KADIĆ, BSCN PROGRAM COORDINATOR

SCOTT STEWART, MANAGER OF FINANCE AND BUDGETS