New program to help UCLA staff advance careers

New program to help UCLA staff advance careers

Workshops, mentors provide skills for management jobs

By Kathryn Combs

UCLA officials have developed a program to help current staff
gain the experience and knowledge to advance their career within
the university.

Campus Human Resources has recently introduced the
Administrative and Professional Staff (A&PS) Management
Development Program, which is aimed at intense career development
of current university staff. Organizers designed a series of
workshops and mentorship opportunities to provide UCLA with a
skilled core of management staff.

"I think that the program is very well put together and believe
it is a wonderful opportunity for various levels of A&PS
professionals," said Susan Abeles, the assistant vice chancellor in
charge of business and finances.

Development consists of several components: advanced skills
training, career assessment, mentoring and networking. Organizers
said that these components have been successful in producing a
group of skilled available management staff.

"It identifies and promotes people who are already here, who are
working in staff positions (and) who have the potential to take on
more responsibility, "said Carol Petersen, a vice provost for the
college of letters and sciences and a former mentor for the
program.

Participants are given the ability to identify their strengths
and weaknesses in terms of career advancement, and are taught how
to overcome their weaknesses through various workshops. The
training offered ranges from a seminar on analytical writing skills
to the use of strategic planning tools for management
decisions.

Another component, the mentorship program, matches participants
with a mentor from the same or a similar department. By working
with people from the next level of management, program participants
are able to see first hand the duties and skills they need to
advance their career.

"I got to witness … what next level management did on a
first-hand basis," said James Muh, an administration manager with
the Mail and Document Services Center and a former program
participant.

This experience is also valuable in terms of networking,
allowing staff participants to develop personal relationships with
both their mentors and people within those departments. It is hoped
that these relationships will allow later connections and
recommendations to higher level jobs.

Eligibility requirements for the program include full-time
professional or career employment at UCLA and departmental
endorsement.

While each component of the program is designed to demonstrate
the professional, managerial and administrative skills of staff
members seeking promotions, other long term goals include the
diversification of upper level professional staff.

"I’ve worked on issues of affirmative action for the last couple
of years … (and) there continues to be a tremendous difference in
the diversity of the staff and management at different levels. You
find that there is much less diversity (in higher positions) than
there is at entering staff levels. This is a condition we need to
address," Petersen said. "I believe this to be crucial to the long
term vitality of the campus."

Speculation exists that this program may take away from the
recruitment for university positions from outside sources. But
Claudia Finkel, the Administrative and Professional Staff program
coordinator, explained the program’s primary goal is the
advancement of already existing UCLA staff into higher level
managerial positions.

"It’s not for new employment,(and) it’s not for recruitment of
new employees outside the campus environment," Finkel said,
explaining that the program is an opportunity to showcase the
already existing skills and ideas of staff participants.

"Just having the program brings to the attention of people in
positions of some authority the core of qualified people we have
that are looking for and preparing for advancement," Peterson
agreed.Comments to [email protected]