Lorraine Virginia Makena
Senior Management Assistant / Administrator / Projects Coordination
Midrand
Summary
With extensive experience in project coordination and providing high-level support to the University of Pretoria's Heads of the Department: Community Engagement, and Clinical Unit Programme Manager: Education, as well as the Director of Institute for Food, Nutrition and Well-Being, I am confident in my ability to contribute to the success of your organization. Having worked as a Senior Management Assistant and Projects Coordinator for the past 18 years, I have developed a deep understanding of the unique challenges and demands that come with serving as the first point of contact for client services within the University of Pretoria and private sectors. My skills include managing complex matters, project administration, client service and communication, human resource and staff supervision, assets management, coordinating travel arrangements, and preparing comprehensive reports and presentations.
My strong organisational skills, attention to detail, and ability to multitask effectively have consistently allowed me to exceed expectations in my previous roles. I am eager to contribute my expertise in streamlining operations and providing seamless support to help drive the continued success of the University. With strong project coordination abilities, willingness to learn, administrative and communication skills, ability to build relationships with stakeholders at all levels, and commitment to maintaining the highest level of confidentiality, I believe I am an ideal candidate for this position. Thank you for considering my application. I look forward to discussing how I can contribute to the Department's continued growth and success.
Overview
24
24
years of professional experience
2005
2005
years of post-secondary education
6
6
Languages
Work History
Senior Management Assistant
The University of Pretoria
09.2020 - Current
- Served as the first point of contact for client services within the office
- Managed and oversaw general office administration for the Head of Community Engagement, Research, and PG Studies
- Preparing internal memorandums and reports as and when required
- Coordinate and scheduling needs: Collaborate with the assistants of directors and the operations manager to coordinate scheduling for management
- Liaison Duties: Act as a liaison between the Community Engagement Research and PG Studies office and both internal and external departments, including the University of the Western Cape, Mamelodi community members, the Office of the Dean, the Office of Extended Curriculum Programmes, the Office of Pre-University Academy, the Office of Campus Operations, and the Office of Student Support
- Virtual Exchange Programs: Serve as an administrator and active liaison for virtual exchange programs between the Community Engagement Research office and international collaborators, such as Hong Kong Polytechnic University, University of Florida, Merrimack College (USA), ICFAI Foundation for Higher Education (India), Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University (Fes, Morocco), Tishk International University (Iraq), Universidad Centroamericana José Simeón Cañas, and the Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities (CUMU)
- Planning and coordinating meetings and events
- Preparing meeting documents, including attendance registers, agenda, and minutes from the last meeting, while also, following up on assigned action items
- Act as the secretariat for meetings led by the Head of Community Engagement, and PUA Senior Coordinator
- Administer and oversee workshops, seminars, writing retreats, WeVideo sessions, digital storytelling sessions, and computer training courses
- Administer, update, and manage postgraduate student grants for the University Staff Doctorate Programme (USDP) between the University of Pretoria and the University of Western Cape and file student evaluation forms in Google Drive
- Prepare and file invoices for the University Staff Doctoral Programme (USDP) students/candidates and their mentors
- Maintain records of students' quarterly reports
- Monitor and manage the operational budgets and expenses for the Mamelodi Research Office by preparing a monthly summary report of transactions
- Handle the daily financial operations of the office, including the monthly reconciliation of cost centers
- Source quotes and create purchase orders per procurement and supply chain regulations
- Oversee expenses related to Foundation Grants, particularly for conference-related costs for researchers
- Document the research outputs from the Mamelodi Campus on the InfoEd portal for submission to the Department of Research and Innovation
- Provide administrative support to the senior coordinator by printing and preparing documents for Saturday classes
- Monitor weekly attendance for Pre-University Academy learners
- Capture learners' proof of payments and school term reports on clickUP and Google Drive
- Gather information about Champion Teachers and the Top 10 learners from schools in Mamelodi and surrounding areas
- Ordered stationery and refreshments for tutors and teachers
- Coordinate with the operations team, the Extended Curriculum Programme administrator, and security to ensure that venues are available, unlocked, and in good condition
- Visiting the Mamelodi and surrounding schools to distribute posters and flyers for marketing purposes
- Confirming attendance by calling schools regarding the number of learners for grade 9 subject choices
- Allocating time slots for each school
Administrative Officer
The University of Pretoria
06.2020 - 08.2020
- Monitor the School of Dentistry's Weekly Teaching and Learning through ClickUP
- Weekly reporting of lectures and assessment feedback on ClickUP
- Weekly module scheduling on ClickUP
- Serve as secretariat for meetings chaired by Prof Corne Postma (Head of Clinical Unit Programme Manager: Education)
Project Coordinator/Administrator
The University of Pretoria
05.2013 - 12.2017
- Administration and secretarial support to the Director of the Institute for Food, Nutrition, and Wellbeing office as well as the University of Pretoria-based Centre of Excellence in Food Security office in conjunction with the host, University of Western Cape
- Diary management as well as scheduling of appointments for the Director
- Liaising with the University’s management, departments, faculties, and other external entities, on behalf of the IFNuW
- Responding to inquiries (phone and e-mail), and referring to relevant to the staff members
- Maintaining stationery stocks and UP assets; Ensuring that offices are safe and clean through processing maintenance requests and reporting ad hoc work to Eenstop and IThelp
- Administer, update, and capture IFNUW and the DST/NRF CoE in Food Security student grants as well as filing student evaluation forms
- Establishing and managing postgraduate’ digital database and repository
- Administer the postgraduates’ inquiries, timetables, applications, acceptances, registrations and scholarships
- Maintenance and management of the information and database as well as coordination of information to stakeholders
- Regularly provide statistical information on grants for quarterly reporting
- Assisting with project administration as well as drafting of project plans and monitoring of rollout for IFNuW and CoE Food Security projects
- Capturing IFNuW research outputs for submission to the Department of Research and Innovation
- Preparing documents for meetings, seminars, workshops, and conferences for the institute as well as taking minutes of meetings
- Arrangements of travel advances in the form of per diems, flight bookings, accommodation, etc
- For the staff and students
- Administer and monitor the IFNUW and CoE Food Security financials and budget
- Capture and monitor financial transactions on PeopleSoft relating to requisitions and receipts
- Manage the day-to-day finance processes of the Institute including monthly financial reconciliation of cost centres and reporting, placing orders, and following up on invoice payments
- Preparing quarterly financial reports and annual budgets
- Administer and control budget and finances within the funding of Institutional projects, which includes R13M for the Institutional Research Theme (IRT) such as DST/NRF Centre of Excellence in Food Security, Water Research Commission, and Innovation Lab on Food Security Policy
- Maintaining hard copies of financial transactions
- Administer and monitor the IFNuW and CoE Food Security suppliers are up to date by ensuring that proper documentation is submitted for approvals according to SCM policy
- Establishing and managing a digital database and repository of suppliers as well as students
- Assist with completing and finalizing all orders and liaising with suppliers to deliver their orders
- Administering the submission of invoices from suppliers for payment
- Arranging for publication of brochures, posters, reports, publications, and other materials- (Example of such Achievement: Publication of the IFNuW Annual Report 2013, IFNuW and CoE Food Security Brochures, IFNuW and CoE Food Security Folders and pamphlets
- Maintaining an active IFNuW / CoE Food Security webpages with news on all events and activities, lists of staff and projects, and forwarding weekly e-mail updates and communication to all Associated staff
Project Coordinator/Administrator
Matingi & Associates
01.2004 - 04.2013
- Provide support to the project manager on specific municipalities in implementing sustainable sanitation job creation projects in Kungwini District Municipality, Mogalakwena District Municipality, Vhembe DM, and Mopani DM
- Attending project meetings, workshops, and campaigns and presenting the project milestones
- Facilitation of community engagement and participation in the project
- Undertake research and fieldwork as well as data capturing
- Maintained and documented reports on a daily and monthly basis
- Drafting monthly invoices and monitoring budgets
- Maintaining SCM documentation as well as managing a digital database and repository of suppliers
- Research clinics and schools’ water and sanitation in the 5 provinces (KwaZulu Natal, North West, Eastern Cape, Mpumalanga and Limpopo)
- Arranging and attending project meetings and preparation of draft reports/findings for presentation to the client
- Reviewing and evaluating the work of professional contractors in the installation of VIP toilets at schools and clinics as well as maintaining and documenting the reports
- Site visits and facilitation of workshops within identified areas in the municipalities
- Data capturing and determining the theoretical prospects for development through analyzing the SDF, and IDP and meeting with relevant parties
- Research through updating data captured by municipalities on municipal infrastructure grants
- Research on land use through GIS Project: Retrieving map geographic data using Esri ArcView GIS 3.2
- Interviews with community benefactors, developers, and public officials
Internship
CSIR
08.2001 - 02.2002
- Assist with research and data collection
- Assist in typing reports
Education
Postgraduate Diploma - Development Planning
University of Witwatersrand
Bachelor of Social Sciences Honours - Community Development
University of Pretoria
Bachelor of Arts - Community Development
University of Pretoria
Matric /Grade 12 - undefined
Citicol College
Skills
Office administration
Customer engagement
Finance management: Purchase orders and invoice processing
budget vs expenditure administration
Assets management
Timesheet processing
Task delegation to interns and volunteers
Recordkeeping: Document filing and retrieval
Paperwork drafting
Meeting facilitation and management
Report writing
Scheduling expertise
Linkedin Learning Courses
- Leveraging Generative AI for Project Management, 12/01/23
- Working with Upset Customers, 12/01/23
- Academic Research Foundations: Quantitative, 07/01/23
- SPSS Statistics Essential Training, 07/01/23
- UX Research: Overcoming Data Anxiety, 07/01/23
- Project Management Foundations: Small Projects, 04/01/22
- Microsoft Project 2019 and Project Online Desktop Essential Training, 03/01/22
- Project Management: Technical Projects, 03/01/22
- What Is Program Management?, 03/01/22
- Writing Articles, 03/01/22
- Project Management Foundations: Requirements, 01/01/21
Short Courses
- Short Course in Emotional Intelligence, Enterprises University of Pretoria, 12/11/23
- Short Course in Basic Project Management, Enterprises University of Pretoria, 10/13/22
- SARIMA training course: Science Communication for Research & Innovation Managers & Administrators, 11/28/13
- ClickUP Grade Centre, Enterprises University of Pretoria, 08/21/14
- ZeroPoint Content Management Systems Course, 09/17/17
- Minute Taking Course, Enterprises University of Pretoria, 09/02/14
Timeline
Senior Management Assistant
The University of Pretoria
09.2020 - Current
Administrative Officer
The University of Pretoria
06.2020 - 08.2020
Project Coordinator/Administrator
The University of Pretoria
05.2013 - 12.2017
Project Coordinator/Administrator
Matingi & Associates
01.2004 - 04.2013
Internship
CSIR
08.2001 - 02.2002
Bachelor of Social Sciences Honours - Community Development
University of Pretoria
Bachelor of Arts - Community Development
University of Pretoria
Matric /Grade 12 - undefined
Citicol College
Postgraduate Diploma - Development Planning
University of Witwatersrand
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