Location:
Graduate Programs, Penn Carey Law
Modality:
In-Person
Position Length:
Academic Year (Fall - Spring)
Work Hours and Commitment:
15-20 hours/week
Pay Rate:
$23.00/hr
Additional Compensation:
None
Overview
Penn Carey Law is one of the oldest and most distinguished law schools in the United States. We offer a distinctive cross-disciplinary legal education, drawing on the depth and breadth of the University of Pennsylvania, and a supportive intellectual community for our scholars and students alike. The student population of Graduate Programs consists almost entirely of foreign trained attorneys enrolled in our Master of Laws (LLM) program.
Through the promotion of academic excellence and collegial culture, the GSE Graduate Assistant will assist the Graduate Programs office in helping students meet success. We typically receive applications from about 1,400 candidates from more than 70 countries for a class of approximately 120 students. Graduate Programs is responsible for carrying out application reviews and admissions decisions, international recruiting efforts for the LLM program, and providing exceptional student services for the current class.
Supervisor/Contact
Helen Rho - Director, Graduate Programs
helenrho@law.upenn.edu
Required Duties
The GSE Graduate Assistant will help support a variety of tasks within Graduate Programs including:
Admissions Expertise: Reviewing and Evaluating Applications
The GSE Graduate Assistant will be an integral part of our admissions process. During application season, the GSE Graduate Assistant will have the opportunity to read and evaluate applications, sit on admissions committee panels, and participate in scholarship decisions, observing and participating in an end-to-end admissions season. Due to the diversity of applicant backgrounds, no two applications are alike, and there is always something new to learn. Because of the constantly shifting global legal and educational landscape, Graduate Programs must have current, relevant information and as such, conducts a tremendous amount of research about foreign legal systems, law schools, and legal employers, both as a general matter and about hundreds of individual applicants each year. The GSE Graduate Assistant will play an integral role in these research efforts and help keep our information as current as possible.
Marketing and communications (prospective and admitted students)
The GSE Graduate Assistant will also play an integral role in marketing and communication. Duties may include: updating and maintaining both the prospective and admitted websites, using and supporting Canvas sites for Pre-Term Program; editing and sending event follow up correspondence via MailChimp, Salesforce, Qualtrics, or other CRM; creating various marketing materials for student events, website postings, and mailings using Canva; responding to emails and in-person communications with prospective and admitted students, alumni, and Penn Carey Law community partners; planning prospective and admitted student events around the world; and helping to provide support for current students during the academic year.
Research Strategy Work: Leveraging Application Data
To develop our recruitment strategy, we use data from past years, student surveys, and alumni feedback. The GSE Graduate Assistant may assist with this research by gathering, analyzing, and summarizing relevant data and reporting findings to the team. Additionally, the GSE Graduate Assistant may be called on to share findings with various Penn Carey Law community partners. Past projects include analyzing geographic trends in applications, calculating trends in scholarship requests and acceptances, researching various international law firms and schools rankings, and most recently, construction of an internal LLM alumni database.
General Office Support
The GSE Graduate Assistant will also provide general office support as needed, such as answering phones, greeting visitors, taking messages, copying, participating in weekly staff meetings, entering data on various worksheets; proofreading documents for spelling and typing errors; and other similar responsibilities. The GSE Graduate Assistant will also have reception desk duties.
Preferred Qualification and Essential Skills
- Global mindset and cultural sensitivity;
- Flexibility and willingness to learn;
- Clear written and oral communication skills;
- Ability to conduct independent research and analysis (some data experience is preferred, but not required);
- Attention to detail and commitment to fully completing tasks in a fast-paced environment;
- Knowledge of Canva and/or other digital marketing & design platforms (some digital design experience is preferred);
- Knowledge of Microsoft suite (Excel, PowerPoint, Word) and aptitude/willingness to learn UNITE (our application review software/database); and
- Have basic knowledge of Qualtrics and MailChimp.
Application Instructions
- Currently accepting applications for the 2025-2026 academic year (open until filled).
- This GA position is open to all Penn GSE MSEd students, but higher education is preferred.
- Please email Helen Rho (helenrho@law.upenn.edu) directly and include your resume to request an interview to apply for this position. Interviews will be held virtually.
- Questions can be addressed to Helen Rho. All candidates may not be interviewed.