Business Division

The Administrative Assistant Program is designed for students with secretarial experience who wish to broaden their knowledge of business, intensify previously acquired secretarial skills, prepare for career advancement into managerial, supervisory or administrative positions, and gain necessary background to sit for the Certified Professional Secretary Examination. Prerequisite: advanced secretarial skills.

Program Competencies

Upon successful completion of this program, the student should be able to:

• Demonstrate effective communication skills in writing and speaking in a business environment.
• Apply math operations to solve fundamental business problems.
• Utilize business and management terminology and principles to analyze problems and make decisions.
• Apply basic language skills associated with the parts of speech, sentence formations, numerical expression, capitalization, punctuation, and word division rules to business correspondence.
• Transcribe from various kinds of original communication, such as handwritten copy, printed copy and voice-recorded dictation.
• Proofread and edit typed/keyed copy, including transcription of machine dictation, with a high degree of accuracy and correctness.
• Use word processing, spreadsheet, database, presentation, and Internet skills to complete office tasks.
• Demonstrate speedwriting skills to take notes from oral dictation and produce mailable copy.
• Recognize the changing nature of technology and adapt to new equipment and procedures while retaining the most appropriate traditional office practices.
• Work independently, with others or in self-directed work teams to demonstrate effective interpersonal and problem-solving skills, attitudes and work habits that contribute to organizational goals.
• Utilize effective human relations skills in business situations.
• Prepare financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles and evaluate the results by performing basic financial statement analysis.
• Calculate product costs and break-even point for manufacturing companies and prepare operational budgets using both variable and absorption costing methods.
• Apply economic theory to analyze social, political, financial and business problems.
• Develop a marketing plan using the fundamental elements of the marketing mix.
• Apply the law to recognize legal implications of business and personal transactions.
• Create integrated documents, worksheets, databases, and presentations suitable for coursework, professional purposes, and personal use using personal productivity software.