27 Complete Administrative Professionals Program

University Human Resources celebrated the 27 employees who completed the Administrative Professionals Program this year during a May 15 ceremony at Duke Energy Hall in Hunt Library. 

The class is the second to finish the program, which launched in January 2024 with a class of 21 employees. The program equips administrative professionals at NC State with skills and knowledge to excel in their roles and advance in their careers. The program offers a supportive professional network and covers best practices for time management, communication, organization and more.

Participants can earn the Professional Administrative Certificate of Excellence, or PACE, as part of the program. Eleven participants in this year’s cohort earned the certification.

Ursula Hairston, assistant vice chancellor for human resources strategy, was the guest speaker at the graduation ceremony. Hairston praised the graduates for their accomplishment and called administrative professionals “the backbone of every strong organization.” 

“Thus, your decision to improve your skills not only sets you up for personal and professional growth; it literally improves the capacity for your organization’s success,” Hairston said.

Program manager Carina Lockley encouraged the graduates to put their new skills to use.

“You are no longer just an executive assistant or administrative professional,” Lockley said. “You are a strategist. A chaos organizer. A cultivator — someone who brings order to wild places and nurtures what others overlook.”

UHR offers the program. The next training session begins Sept. 11. Go to the UHR website to learn more about the program and to REPORTER to register.

This post was originally published in University Human Resources News.