Course Offerings

Administrative Assistant Fundamentals

Course ID: OST-3602BE
Overview
Course Outline
Requirements
Intended Audience
More Details

Rapid growth in the health, legal services, data processing, management, public relations, and other industries have created many new job opportunities for administrative assistants. This course will help you discover and master the essentials of managerial and staff support, information and records management, communications technology, travel and meeting coordination, space planning, and office ergonomics. You will become an indispensable member of your team by identifying opportunities and implementing solutions to turn your office into a high productivity machine. This course and its follow up (Administrative Assistant Applications) may help you prepare for the internationally-recognized Certified Administrative Professional® (CAP®) exam offered by the International Association of Administrative Professionals® (IAAP®).

Course Objectives

Discover the essentials of managerial and staff support.

Learn information and records management.

Understand how to travel and meeting coordination, space planning, and office ergonomics.

Outline of instruction

Lesson 1 - Introduction
Today, in our first lesson, you'll see why organizations need administrative assistants, and also explore the type of work that various administrative assistants perform. We'll talk about the different administrative specialties, and look at an overview of their varied duties and requirements. You'll learn about the International Association of Administrative Professionals (IAAP), and the professional certification-Certified Administrative Professional (CAP)-that IAAP offers.

Lesson 2 - Office Planning and Layout
As an administrative assistant, you frequently participate in office planning. So today, we'll help you understand that an office is an interdependent system where everything works together. You'll see that creating an office environment requires bringing many components together, including office layout, workflow analysis, space planning, furniture and equipment selection, use of lighting, and physical document (file) storage. By the end, you'll be ready to play a vital role in office planning.

Lesson 3 - Information Management
In our fast paced world, organizations move very quickly and make split-second decisions that have far reaching implications. Administrative assistants play a pivotal position in supporting timely and accurate flow of information. In this lesson, you'll learn how to effectively use information management to create a successful office operation and help increase your value to your organization.

Lesson 4 - Communications Technology
The pieces of telecommunications, communications, and technology, fit together like a hand in a glove. To be successful as an administrative assistant, you need a command of telecommunications. So, today, we'll share how telecommunications technology enables you to access information, share knowledge, and communicate without boundaries. When you finish this lesson, you'll better understand how to use multi-tasking and communicate using e-mail, fax, and telephone.

Lesson 5 - Records Management
In today's lesson, you'll learn how to productively use reprographics and manage records. Many organizations rely on administrative assistants to coordinate activities in these two areas. You'll learn that reprographics is the process that creates, develops, produces, and distributes printed material that conveys information and ideas. You'll also discover that records management is the management of paper documents, micromedia, and documents that are electronically and magnetically stored.

Lesson 6 - Hardware and Software
As an administrative assistant, you spend a lot of your day inputting and storing data, retrieving and analyzing information, and producing presentations, newsletters, numerical reports, graphs, and charts. Powerful, user-friendly computer hardware and software can help you greatly with these tasks. So we'll focus on computer hardware and software in this lesson to help you better understand the properties of your office computer system.

Lesson 7 - Meetings, Conferences, and Travel
This lesson covers scheduling and coordinating meetings, conferences, and business travel. As an administrative assistant, you play an important role in helping co-workers arrive at the right place at the right time. You also provide them with information and materials that enhance their effectiveness while they travel and participate in meetings.

Lesson 8 - Policies and Procedures
A critical responsibility of administrative assistants is coordinating a wide variety of office activities. To help you meet this challenge, today we'll examine how to create practical policies and procedures, and design and manage useful forms. We'll focus on the use of policies, procedures, and forms that meet organizational objectives and create harmony and order in your day-to-day activities.

Lesson 9 - Business Documents
As an administrative assistant, you spend much of your time reading and composing business documents (reports, letters, memoranda, and press releases). Your efficiency and effectiveness is dependent upon your ability to write purposefully and clearly. So our objective today is to enhance your business writing skills. After you finish this lesson, you'll wow your boss and co-workers with your increased ability to write high-quality business documents.

Lesson 10 - Grammar and Punctuation
This lesson bridges the subjects of written and verbal communication by discussing the principles of grammar and punctuation. It's likely that you need to help others with their written communication, so you will also review the mechanics of proofreading.

Lesson 11 - Interpersonal Communication
As an administrative assistant, you practice interpersonal communication in a variety of ways, ranging from one-on-one to communicating in a group. The basic purpose of interpersonal communication is to transfer understandable information back and forth. In today's lesson, we'll discuss how your desire to share thoughts and ideas create the first part of communication and how you create the second part when you listen, interpret, and react to feedback.

Lesson 12 - Research and Presentations
This final lesson will teach you how to perform basic research-something administrative assistants are often asked to do. It also discusses the steps you take to create a meaningful and memorable presentation, including strategies for starting your preparation and the software that can help you create a polished piece.

CEUs

2.4

Industry Standard, State or National Certification

Certification

CAP

Website

None

Certification Learning Outcomes/Requirements

CE or CU Articulation

Prerequisites

There are no prerequisites to take this course.

Text and Supplies Needed

Hardware Requirements:
This course can be taken on either a PC, Mac, or Chromebook.

Software Requirements:
PC: Windows 8 or later.
Mac: macOS 10.6 or later.
Browser: The latest version of Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox are preferred. Microsoft Edge and Safari are also compatible.
Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Software must be installed and fully operational before the course begins.

Other:
Email capabilities and access to a personal email account.

Instructional Material Requirements:
The instructional materials required for this course are included in enrollment and will be available online.

Clinical Site/Special Facilities

None

Requirements for Successful Completion

90% attendance
• Students must successfully pass 10 quizzes with a minimum grade of 70% by the second quiz attempt.
• If all quizzes are not passed with 70 or better by the second attempt, the final exam score must be 70% or higher on the first attempt for successful completion.
• The Final Exam must be taken by the Wake Tech course end date.

Accreditation/Special Approval Requirements

N/A

Intended Audience

This course will help you master essential job responsibilities as you identify opportunities and implement solutions for increased productivity throughout your company.