Strategic Communications and Marketing News Bureau

Group offers support, networking and fellowship

The Secretariat, the fellowship organization for office professionals on campus, is celebrating its 60th anniversary.

The organization’s roots go back to 1948, when Kathryn Hansen, who was then supervisor of training, founded a professional development organization for women in nonacademic supervisory positions, and another group was started for employees holding the job title of junior secretary. The two groups merged in 1951, adopting the name the Secretariat.

Since then, the Secretariat has expanded its scope. Membership is open to men and women in 75 civil service classifications at the rank of office support associate or higher, including accountants, human resource managers and typesetters.

However, the organization’s fundamental mission remains personal and professional development, and the Secretariat offers a variety of opportunities – including monthly luncheons, monthly mentoring dialogues, tours of campus facilities and social events – to expand one’s social and professional circles, to learn about other UI units and initiatives, and just to have fun.

Janet “J.P.” Peters joined the Secretariat two months after she began working as an office support associate in the Publications Office of the department of electrical and computer engineering in the College of Engineering two years ago.

“I have met so many people from all different departments, and I would never have had that chance without being in the Secretariat,” Peters said. “The Secretariat allows me to have a richer UI life. The biggest benefit is feeling more a part of campus.”

“It gives you insight into the larger world,” said Jessica Bengtson, an office manager in administrative services in the College of Veterinary Medicine and the Secretariat’s president-elect, who has worked on campus for 13 years. “You have a very narrow view as a new employee. The university is this huge entity and learning the big picture is not always easy or simple. Once you do that, you’re left with this great network that enables you to do your job better.”

Barb Haegele, Secretariat’s president, agreed that the friendships and contacts the organization fosters are invaluable. “If something happens that I don’t know the answer to, there are members across campus that I can contact, and somebody will be able to help me,” said Haegele, who is an office manager in the Office of Student Affairs and Medical Scholars Program in the College of Medicine. “We accepted quite a few gift memberships from departments this year who paid for their staff members to join. That’s quite a reflection on management’s seeing the value in it.”

The Secretariat also offers a mentoring program that pairs protégés with volunteer mentors. Mentors and protégés are matched in September for one year, but many of the pairs become friends and continue their relationship beyond the program, as did Susie Conrad, an office support specialist in the Office of Advancement in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences, and her former protégé, Peters.

Conrad was hesitant to become a mentor initially because she had not worked on campus as long as some of her colleagues and didn’t view herself as an exemplar. “What I found out when I finally got up my courage to give it a try,” Conrad said, was that it enabled her to learn from staff members who had extensive knowledge of the university environment while allowing her to share her unique strengths, such as the people skills that she’d developed during a 25-year career in retail sales.

“Members are hesitant (to mentor) because they don’t view themselves as a perfectionist or the ultimate professional,” Conrad said. “But that’s not what mentoring is all about. It’s about listening and being eager to help find the answer if you don’t know it. It’s caring enough to want to help.”

About 10 to 12 pairs are matched each year; they decide how often to meet in addition to attending monthly mentoring dialogues at which guest speakers address topics suggested by members. Speakers at the group’s monthly luncheons also cover a range of informational and entertaining topics.

The organization’s philanthropic endeavors include awarding an annual scholarship to a high school senior who plans to attend a state university and study a business-related major, and this past holiday season the Secretariat adopted a family through the Faculty-Staff Assistance Program.

As president-elect, Bengtson represents the Secretariat on the Staff Advisory Council.

“The Secretariat is the employees,” Bengtson said. “It’s about serving those people. They have a voice in what’s going on, and we can take their voice and use it where it can make a difference. It’s very empowering to be in a position where you can initiate change and be heard.”

The Secretariat welcomes new members. Information about the Secretariat, including an online membership application, is available on its Web site.

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