What do you do?

As I mentioned in my last blog, I usually work 8:30-5 Mon-Fri. But I also mentioned that would be changing. Our office is open seven days a week, from 7:30-5. However, for a trial period (all of March) we are changing our hours to see if it would be more beneficial for our participants. Our hours on Sat/Sun are now 7:30-4 (I think). And then on weekdays (which I am still working Mon-Fri) from 7am-7pm. So now, instead of working the same times each day, my schedule changes slightly from day to day. I still work 8 hours a day. But one day I may come in a little earlier, and another stay a little later. There are two days that I will be closing (by myself). And all the rest I work in the middle. In some weeks, I may have a day that I open, but that has not been scheduled yet.

My job is going well, although last week, I felt like I was stuck in a rut a little. I just wasn't feeling quite right. Not sure why though. But in general, everything is going swimmingly. Since I haven't really gone into much detail about what I do, I'll try to do that now. However, it's hard. I do a lot of little things so it's difficult to describe it briefly. Things I do in any given days are:

• Travel forms - when international students want to take a trip out of the country, our office provides them with travel forms to fill out. We tell them what they need to do to fill them out. Then when the depart for their trips, they have to bring the forms back to us along with their travel documentation. We have to check their passport/visas. I was confused at first by the many different visas and situation, but I'm getting a hang of it now and learning quite a bit. We check these forms to make sure their visas allow them to travel, then we sign the form and make a copy. When the participants return, we check their passports again to make sure their visas have been processed correctly and then sign their form again saying they are able to go back to work. 
• Residency Letters - many times, participants need proof that they are living in our complexes (usually so they can get a driver's license). We type up an official government document that has proof of their participation and residency. 
• Unexpected Departures - We take care of the initial paper work for people leaving the program early. Some of these are terminations from the company, some of them are voluntary based on family/personal needs. Terminations can come from the work location, or they can come from our department based on a housing code violation. We have to contact the work location to notify them of the participant leaving, and fill out/file paper work. Depending on the situation, we have to notify other departments or file additional paperwork.
• Discipline - My managers are the ones who deal the discipline. However, we type up written and verbal warning notifications. We also are asked from time to time to sit in on security meetings.
• Apartment Meetings - a couple times a week, participants come in having a conflict with their roommates. Our office offers conflict resolution assistance. We call everybody in for a meeting, we sit down and members from my team act as mediators.
• I personally enter Ticklers into our database. A tickler is what we call a security file that had no discipline or follow-up needed. In other words, they are mainly a complaint that had no substantial proof to investigate, or documentation of a medical emergency.

There are also a several other things I do. Answer phones, assist with walk-ins. Clean our popcorn machine. Open and close the office when applicable. Sign people up for events. But the above are the bulk of our work.