Administrative Procedures

Experiential Learning – Major Assignment
Value: 30% of final grade (30 Marks)
Due Date: Please see your Course Calendar for the specific due date
This assignment is related to the following CLRS*:
1 Understand the changing role of an administrative assistant.
2 Develop an understanding of how offices are structured.
Illustrate the roles and functions of personnel within an office.
3 Identify the different types of referencing materials and sources and administrative assistant may
use.
4 Develop policies and procedure for working with incoming and outgoing mail.
Develop policies and procedures for working with electronic mail.
Identify other mail services.
5 Plan and organize work, time, and resources to facilitate effective and efficient completion and the
evaluation of the tasks in the areas of telecommunications.
6 Develop effective techniques for storing and retrieving information according to the recognized
standards for paper records and electronic records.
7 Recognize the various types of filing systems that may be found in Canadian offices.
8 Ascertain the factors that govern and retention and transfer of records.
11 Identify tasks and determine priorities.
13 Identify the responsibilities of the administrative professional for meetings and conferences.
15 Describe the responsibilities of administrative professionals regarding their executives’ trips
including being familiar with making travel arrangements, preparing an itinerary, and completing an
expense report.
*You can find detailed information with regard to the Course Learning Requirements (CLRS) in your Course
Section Information PDF file on Blackboard under the Course Outline link.
The rubric for this assignment is posted in the ELA (Experiential Learning Assignment) folder in Blackboard,
under the Activities and Assignments link.
You must job shadow someone for this assignment. You cannot use your own work experience in an office (if
you have any) as the basis for the ELA.
***You will receive a zero grade if you do not job shadow an office professional***
RATIONALE:
 To gain some practical on-site knowledge of office operations and procedures
 To apply your composition skills to a report
 To apply your knowledge of formal reports to the preparation of a summary report
 To practice and apply English grammar skills to a professional college report/essay.
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DIRECTIONS:
Please read ALL instructions very carefully so that you do not overlook or miss pertinent information. This
includes the page above.
You are asked to select an office professional, such as an administrative assistant or executive assistant, who is
able to provide you with an overview of their organization’s office operations and procedures. In order for the
information to be accurate and relevant, you should try to select someone who has been working in their
position for at least three years. It is probably wise to secure your location within the first few weeks of class
so you are not stressed to find a located days before the assignment is due.
You are to job shadow someone, and not complete this assignment based on your own experience in the field
(if you are currently working as an office professional).
The Assignment consists of two steps. First, you will complete the Office Procedures Survey with your mentor
while visiting their workplace. Second, you will write an essay answering specific Reflective Summary questions
found in this document. Please find further details below.
1. Office Procedures Survey & Confidentiality Agreement – Worth 15 marks
You are to gather the information required in a meeting with the office professional. Advise the office
professional that this meeting will last approximately two – three hours, however, you may need more time as
each placement is different. Students should arrive promptly on time for the meeting dressed in appropriate
business attire.
The details are described in the attached survey questionnaire (found in Blackboard). This survey should be
provided to the office professional several days in advance of your meeting as a courtesy, so they may gather
any information required that is not readily available to them. My email address will be on the Survey
Questionnaire as well as the Confidentiality Agreement in case your mentor needs to contact me. If you cannot
hand deliver the survey then please offer to email the document for their review. There may be questions in
your survey for which answers need to be sought out before your arrival (example – offsite location for storing
files). However, you are expected to review and record the answers to these questions in your meeting with the
office professional. They should not be filling the survey out on your behalf. Space has been provided on the
survey questionnaire for you to record the office professional’s responses.
A Confidentiality Agreement MUST be signed by you and your mentor. Also found on Blackboard.
***If your mentor feels comfortable and you receive permission ahead of time, you may want to bring along a
recording device (cell phones work well) to record conversations with your mentor and/or answers to your
questions so you may type out the information later.
Note: the survey, if handwritten, needs to be eligible. If I cannot read it then it will not be marked. If
handwritten it will need to be scanned and added to your report. It must also be in PDF format if handwritten
and scanned.
Please do NOT take photographs of your Survey or your Confidentiality Agreement. I will not accept them.
They must be scanned and in PDF format.
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The Experiential Learning Survey consists of three sections:
1. Part A – General Information (2.5 marks)
Details regarding your chosen office professional and his/her organization.
2. Part B – Operation of Office Equipment (2.5 marks)
A checklist is provided that should be completed by you and signed by the office professional.
3. Part C – Office Procedures Survey Questions (7 marks) & Confidentiality Agreement (3 marks) (total of
10 marks)
The survey consists of a number of questions regarding office operations and procedures. Agreement
must be signed by yourself and your professional.
In order to protect the privacy of the office professional, he/she is required to complete the attached
confidentiality agreement. A copy should be made for you to include in your project submission; the original
remains with the office professional.
2. Reflective Summary – Worth 10 marks
After you have met with the office professional, please prepare a minimum two full page report (3 pages
maximum) in essay format (this means no bulleted lists) which summarizes your findings.
Note: The two – three page requirement applies to the report body only and does not include the Title page.
You should not need any references for this assignment.
This 2-3 page report should be organized into the following categories:
1. Introduction: One-two paragraphs that describes the office professional, the workplace, and the
purpose of the report.
2. Body: One – two paragraphs for each of the questions listed below.
3. Conclusion: One – two paragraphs that summarizes your overall experience
Reflective Summary Questions:
The report should address each of the following questions listed below. Provide as detailed a response as
possible to each question. Please use a heading for each of the 7 questions.
1. What surprised you about the work environment and/or policies?
2. What impressed you?
3. What disappointed you and/or what didn’t you expect to see/learn?
4. What did you learn? This could be with regard to the office, the politics, the policies, etc.
5. Has this changed your view of an administrative assistant? If so why? If not why?
6. Does this experience validate your career choice? Please explain.
7. Provide any other general observations of the workplace.
If any of the seven questions are left blank, marks will be deducted accordingly.
Marks will be deducted for poor writing style and grammatical errors. This is a professional college report and
should be written as such.
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3. Report Stylistics – Worth 5 marks
Stylistics consists of possible grammatical errors, stylistic errors, and the quality and professionalism of the
assignment. The report should be formal with the below items included:
 Two pages minimum for your essay, three pages max (this does not include the cover page)
 Include a title/cover page
 Normal margins – Please make sure any template you may use has Normal margins. If it doesn’t, then
you should chose a different template or fix the margins yourself.
 Page numbers
 Section headings – This is very important
 The font should be Calibri 11 point and the line spacing should be no more than 1.5 spacing (do NOT
use double spacing).
 I need the MS Word version of your essay. You are welcome to PDF your essay, but I don’t need this. I
do need the MS Word version so that I can check all of the formatting listed above.
If you have any questions about the stylistics and formatting of the essay please don’t hesitate to contact
me. I am here to help!
HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR ASSIGNMENT:
Due to the fact that you are taking an online course, submitting this assignment will take an extra step or two on
your part. Everything must be submitted through Blackboard online. Here is what you may do:
1. Your Reflective Summary will be a typed report and can easily be submitted online
2. Your Confidentiality Agreement will need to be scanned and saved as a PDF file.
3. Your Survey, if hand written will need to be scanned and saved as a PDF file so that you may upload
your files to Blackboard. Please do not wait until the last minute to look for a scanner. If your printer
does not have one then please go to your local library, the college, or a campus near you, ask a friend or
family member, etc.
4. Your Survey, if typed is preferable as it will be easier for me to read. This will be easier for you to upload
as no scanning will be required.
5. The signed portion of your Survey must be scanned however and saved as a PDF file.
6. All files must be zipped into ONE zip file and uploaded to Blackboard by midnight of the attended due
date (please see course calendar for details).
7. ALL signatures must be handwritten. No electronic or typed signatures will be admissible. I must see
your professional’s handwritten signature or your document will be invalid and you will receive a zero
grade for that portion of the assignment. I am referring to your Confidentiality Agreement and the
Office Procedures Survey.
8. If your scans are upside down you will lose marks. Please take the time to scan them correctly. This is a
professional report.
9. No photographs of any documents will be accepted. This is a professional report and all documents
must be scanned and saved in PDF format (with the exception of your essay – which must be in MS
Word).
NOTE: The items that are scanned need to be easily read. If the scan is too light OR too dark and I cannot read
it then I cannot mark it. You will receive a zero grade on anything that I cannot read (this includes any
handwriting that may be in your documents).
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What you should take with you during your meeting:
 A pen and notepad (it is always wise to have extra paper!)
 A recording device if permissible and if it helps you
 The Confidentiality Agreement (you may want to bring two copies just in case)
 The Survey (you may want to bring two copies just in case)
 This Instruction Document to ensure you have everything you need when you leave your placement
 If you have not provided your contact with a copy of the survey then you should definitely have an extra
copy to leave with them.
 Remember to ask them for a copy of the confidentiality agreement. You will be assessing their copier
while there so this will be a good time to get your document copied!

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