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Academic Affairs Support
Staff The Academic Affairs Support Staff met in May 2002. It consists of secretarial and clerical positions from academic departments across campus. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss job responsibilities, problems related to those responsibilities, and formulate potential strategies to solve those problems. Several committees were formed as a result, including the Effective Communications Committee, the On-Line Manual Committee, and the Mentoring Committee. The goal of the Effective Communications committee is to work with service areas throughout campus in an effort to better establish lines of communication between the department secretaries and service areas, such as Admissions, the Registrar’s Office, and Student Life. Generally, one person from each service area is invited to speak to the committee and answer questions and concerns for that specific area. The goal of the Mentoring Committee is to provide a mentor or mentor team for each new member of the AA Support Staff. The committee has developed a "welcome pack", which contains information pertinent to the duties of a college or department secretary. A "welcome luncheon" is also given for each new staff person, and provides an opportunity to meet with other support staff on campus, ask questions, and establish a base of communication with other departments. In addition, the mentoring team will assist in getting the necessary training needed from Procurement Services for on-line requisitions, the Travel Office for processing travel reimbursement, the Finance Office and Registrar’s Office for training in computer systems related to budget reconciliation, student information (hold removal, etc.), and course entry. In the past, the out-going employee, if available, has provided training in these areas. Often, however, the former staff member is not available, and the new staff member is left unaware of what kind of university-specific training may be necessary. The On-Line Manual Committee is in the process of establishing a web-site for secretarial staff with information and links to various job-related forms that are now required to be filled out on-line, which would streamline office operations. A list-serve has also been established in order for all support staff to effectively share information and new procedures with each other. If you would like to know more about the AA Support Staff, or would like to volunteer to serve on a committee, please contact any of the following: Sherry Johnson, Administrative Assistant in Academic Affairs ( sjohnson@astate.edu ) |