Meet the ladies who saved office admin at Sault College

Just weeks after revealing that its office administration program was being phased out, Sault College announced today that the program will survive in a re-tooled, accelerated format proposed by faculty members Shelley Boushear, Sheree Wright and Lynn Dee Eason (shown).

Sault College President Timothy Meyer offered congratulations to the faculty for working with the program’s advisory committee to develop the new, three-semester format.

The accelerated program is now accepting admissions for classes to begin this fall.

The following is the full text of a news release issued by college staff today:

**************************************************************** Redesigned office administration program restored

A newly formatted office administration – executive diploma program is now accepting students for admission this fall.

The 11-month curriculum will be delivered in an accelerated format, with classes running from Sept. 8 until July 30, 2004.

In March, the college announced plans to suspend and ultimately phase-out its office administration one-year certificate and two-year diploma options as cost reduction measures.

However, office administration faculty and the program’s advisory committee, consisting of business and industry representatives, have redesigned delivery of the program to reduce costs in the future.

"I commend office administration faculty for the tremendous amount of research and work done to consolidate and bring forward a solid proposal," said Sault College President Timothy Meyer.

Shown in the photo are office administration faculty, from left, Shelley Boushear, Co-ordinator Sheree Wright, and Lynn Dee Eason.

"The concept allows the college to maintain office administration programming, while achieving efficiencies necessary to ensure the program operates viably. As a result, we have restored two faculty positions designated for lay-off."

The restructured program is similar to a model that has proven highly successful for the last 10 years at Seneca College in Toronto. Office administration – executive (accelerated) registrants will complete studies over three consecutive semesters.

Under the new approach, students will also be in class more hours per week and progress through a series of learning modules.

A substantial work placement component towards the end of the program will allow students to solidify their skills and prepare for the transition to employment.

"Many existing office administration courses are being retained in the accelerated curriculum, and new areas of emphasis are being introduced at the same time," said Meyer.

"Faculty are ensuring that the quality standards of the two-year curriculum are maintained as we make the transition to an accelerated approach."

The college believes many students will welcome the accelerated format.

"Traditionally, about 70 per cent of office administration students have returned to education after being away from school," said Prof. Sheree Wright, co-ordinator of the office administration program.

"In many cases, students want to gain the skills they need for employment and enter the workforce as quickly as possible. In terms of employment, students will also benefit by graduating at a non-traditional time of year."

Office administration graduates fill a variety of positions in diverse settings across the community.

Typical jobs titles include administrative assistant, office manager, and secretary/receptionist.

While the new program is running, the college will be delivering the second year of the office administration – executive program in its traditional schedule for the last time.

This format will be discontinued as of the end of the winter 2004 semester.

More information is available by calling the Sault College registrar’s office at 759-6700 or 1-800-461-2260.

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