Disability Resource Center (DRC)

Employment

The Disability Resource Center (DRC) occasionally has openings for graduate assistants, clerical staff, and temporary staff. A description of our graduate positions can be found below. The core of other positions typically includes the core duties assigned to graduate administrative positions. For specific information about other types of positions (if available), please see the Job Openings from Human Resource Services.

Graduate students interested in our positions should complete an application regardless of the position vacancy status listed below. We keep application documents on file for three months. When a position becomes vacant, we may contact you if your qualifications match our needs. Note that because of the extensive training required, we only look for students who can be employed with us for at least one year. More information about the application process can be found below.

Vacancies [Update 3/17/2010]

We currently do not anticipate a need of graduate administrative professionals for the Spring 2010 semester. However, please keep an updated application form on file with us per the instructions given below. This web page will be updated when any additional opportunities become available.

Graduate Administrative Professional (GAP): Course Material Production

In this position, you will be assisting the DRC production team in procuring course materials for visually impaired students. This position may require you to perform a variety of tasks including scanning and editing documents, using optical character recognition (OCR) software and word processing software, translation of text into braille using braille translation software, illustration of tactile diagrams using illustration software, and delivering finished documents to a drop-off location on the main part of campus. You would be trained in a variety of braille codes and production techniques, however you would be expected to bring with you the basic skills of working in a Windows-based computer environment. Initial training would last approximately six weeks, and it would be intensive. Once you are trained, you would be working closely with other staff members as a team, but you would also spend a lot of time working alone on your designated tasks. You would be required to attend weekly staff meetings and offer input to the team on issues being discussed.

Hours Required:

These positions are half-time (0.5 FTE) positions. This means graduate administrative professionals are assigned the equivalent of 20 hours of work each week. In general, graduate administrative professionals can work any hours between 8AM and 5PM, but a schedule must be submitted to a supervisor. The schedule must spread the time out evenly over each of the five workdays. If a supervisor cannot find time during which all graduate administrative professionals are available for meetings, some graduate administrative professionals may be asked to modify their schedules for this purpose.

Fee Remission:

These positions provide a remission of all but a nominal portion of tuition and fees each semester. Note that some academic schools also require a differential fee that is not covered by these positions.

Salary:

If you are offered one of these positions, the salary will be discussed in your offer letter.

Applying to Become a Graduate Administrative Professional:

You may complete an application form (in Microsoft Word format) electronically and return it to us via email to braille@purdue.edu, or you may print it out and send it to us via regular mail or fax. Including a resume and/or transcripts with your application would be helpful. If for some reason you cannot access our application form, we can provide a print out for you here at the office. Our address is:

Disability Resource Center
Purdue University
Office of the Dean of Students
Ernest C. Young Hall, Room 830
155 S Grant Street
West Lafayette, IN 47907-2114
V/TTY:(765) 494-1247
Fax: (765) 496-3759

If you send us your documents via email, we will confirm the receipt of your application with a response.

Our Selection Process:

1. Your application form and resume will be stored in an electronic file for no more than three months. Near the end of the three-month period, you may submit an updated copy of your application and resume. Please do not submit the same, un-revised documents more frequently than every three months.
2. When a position becomes available, we will form a selection committee. This committee will compile all the applications and resumes collected in the past three months. It will rank them according to the qualifications presented in the documents.
3. A predetermined number of top-ranking applicants will be invited to come in for an interview. The remaining applicants will not be contacted. If you do not hear from us, then you should assume that you are not yet a top-ranking applicant. Please refrain from calling us to inquire about the status of your application.
4. After the interviews are finished, the top-ranking applicants will be re-ranked based on the qualifications presented in their application forms, resumes, and the interviews.
5. The highest-ranking applicant will be offered the position. The initial offer will be verbal--over the telephone. The official offer comes in the form of an offer letter, which the selected applicant will sign to accept the position.

Things To Do When Applying:

• Do use the DRC web site as your source of information about the status of openings.
• Do submit a complete and honest application form and resume as instructed on the web site.
• Do be very patient about receiving an invitation to interview. We receive numerous applications between selection processes. These positions are very competitive.

Things NOT To Do After Applying:

• Do not repeatedly contact our office about the status of openings. We will immediately update the web site when a position is available.
• Do not email your application and resume to specific staff members of the DRC. Use the braille@purdue.edu address as instructed above.
• Do not assume that your excellent qualifications are superior to those of other applicants in our candidate pool. There are hundreds of highly experienced, well-qualified graduate students at Purdue that would be a good fit with us at the DRC.
• Do not ask your friends who work at the DRC to "put in a good word for you" with the selection committee. They know that our selection committee will make an objective decision based on the qualifications presented by each applicant in their resume, application and interview.