03/03/94

CONTACT: Stanford University News Service (650) 723-2558

Conference scheduled on professional development for support staff

STANFORD -- Administrative or clerical support staff employees can attend a half-day professional development conference scheduled for March 29. The conference is titled "Employee and Skill Enhancement (EASE) in the 1990s."

There is no charge for the conference, and any university support staff member is welcome to attend, with supervisory approval. The conference will be held on campus, and registration is required.

Registration must be completed online in Prism Training Registration by selecting the Training and Organizational Development category between March 15 and 22. Due to space constraints, registration is taken on a first-come, first-served basis, with a maximum of 270 participants. If you are unable to register using the online system, please call Training and Organizational Development at 723-0657.

"Those who hold support staff positions must be highly skilled in many different aspects of their work," said Valerie Beeman, a training specialist in Training and Organizational Development, which is sponsoring the conference.

"Their positions require them to provide critical client service, master advanced computer and office systems, be proficient with financial systems and budgeting processes, and handle a host of other complex responsibilities."

Determining the needs of support staff is difficult given the variety of responsibilities from position to position, Beeman said. A survey of office assistants, secretaries and administrative assistants was conducted in 1993 to "solicit feedback from the group we want to provide opportunities for," she said.

"Many survey respondents wrote back with great ideas for knowledge they would like to gain, speakers they'd like to hear, and skills they want to develop," Beeman said. "This half-day conference is the first event especially designed to respond to those needs."

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