Administrative Networks are a new way for administrative professionals to work together to support collaboration and knowledge sharing. 

Figure 1 illustrates the ways administrative professionals work together within an Administrative Network. In this illustration,

• Administrative professionals are connected to a manager with cross-functional expertise who (1) provides training, career engagement and development support, (2) offers guidance on best practices, (3) advocates for processes, policies and guidelines to support the network, and (4) streamlines some basic tasks across the network.
• Administrative professionals are also supported by a network of colleagues for knowledge and resource sharing, coverage and a sense of community. 
• Administrative professionals work directly with leader(s) within a college, school or departments. It is imperative that these remain intact to provide support that is vital to the operations of the unit.

The manager of an Administrative Network oversees various employee lifecycle processes (which may be done in collaboration or independent of current people leaders). Some examples include:  

• Working with leaders to manage and support the recruitment process for administrative professionals within the Administrative Network 
• Providing consistent onboarding with local and institutional systems and processes 
• Ensuring ongoing training and development opportunities are available and promoted among administrative professionals 
• Serving as a continued support and raising awareness of best practices, policies, and guidelines 
• Mentoring, guiding, and offering a fresh perspective or solution 
• Setting clear expectations and scheduling ongoing check-ins with team members and leaders 
• Providing regular career engagement and relevant performance feedback in collaboration with the leader 

"Administrative Networks provide administrative professionals with a sense of community, and access to knowledge, training, tools, and resources. By working collaboratively across units, we leverage each other’s experiences and expertise, and support one another’s work life balance." 

Suzy Barbour, Manager, Administrative Networks, 
President, Provost and VP Academic, and VP Administration Portfolios 

Yes. Through the Administrative Network Project, we are working with the College of Education, College of Law, Edwards School of Business and Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy on forming an Administrative Network. We are modeling some of this work from the existing Administrative Network that supports the Vice President Administrations Office, Provost’s Office, and the President’s Office. 

The Administrative Network Project has consulted with and received feedback from both senior leaders supported by and administrative professionals working within an Administrative Network. 

Administrative professionals provided the following comments regarding the benefits of working within an Administrative Network: 

• “It really feels like a support system. We can rely on each other for knowledge sharing, advice, where to start, brainstorming, etc.” 
• “The work you do doesn’t necessarily change, but you join a group of professionals that experience similar challenges, and it really builds a community.” 
• “Working among admin professionals, and having the right people around you, you don’t feel like you are on an island like I have in the past.” 
• “I hope all of my colleagues see themselves as admin professionals—being part of a professional network helps us really embrace and elevate our profession.” 

As senior leaders who receive administrative support from an Administrative Network, many indicated that they would recommend an Administrative Network to their colleagues across campus. Specific comments included:

• “Yes. It is a win on the service side, win on the administrative professional side, win with onboarding, training, learning how the university works, etc. It is all wins.” 
• “Yes. The biggest selling point is I don’t have to worry if they are getting the proper support for training, PD, etc. I think that was a miss on our end before.” 
• “We need to recognize administrative professionals as an actual profession. We do a disservice to the more traditional reporting line where the admin is supporting someone who doesn’t understand the profession. It is such a disservice to the individual and I hope we are working towards rectifying that.” 

No. The Administrative Network Project team understands that colleges, schools, departments and central units, all operate differently across campus and that administrative professionals often have unique responsibilities when supporting units. This project is creating an opportunity for USask to bring administrative professionals from different units together to streamline administrative processes, learn from each other, cross-train to support leaves and coverage, and have opportunities to further diversify skill sets.

In consultation with the President’s Executive Council and with the deans and executive director, the College of Education, College of Law, Edwards School of Business, and Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy were identified as the first group of colleges and school to take part in the Administrative Network Project due to their overall size and scope. The next Administrative Network Project will be determined through thorough consultation.

The Administrative Network Project is not a workforce reduction initiative. Instead, the intent is to implement a new way for administrative professionals to work together on campus so they are better connected and supported, while continuing to provide a continuum of high-quality services within their unit. It is anticipated that some positions will shift in terms of reporting, work activities may be reallocated based on function, and savings will be identified through process improvements.

Administrative work is complex, specialized, unique and there is diversity in the work depending on the unit, the leaders, size of the department, etc. Transitioning to an Administrative Network will not change this. Through the network, we are looking for opportunities to share knowledge and common work, leverage unit skill sets, support consistent approaches, provide coverage, create opportunities for cross training and more.

It is very important that the relationships amongst administrative professionals and their current people leaders remain and continue to grow. With the implementation of Administrative Networks, the administrative network manager assumes ‘employee life cycle’ responsibilities, while the current people leaders direct the day-to-day work.

In short, yes. As an administrative professional, you frequently have access to confidential information. When you join an Administrative Network, there is no expectation that you need to divulge confidential information to your manager or colleagues in the network. The expectation of confidentiality does not change.

The administrative network manager is focused on you as an employee and the resources you need to do your job. The manager is not focused on the specific confidential nuances of your day-to-day work.

It is important that administrative professionals work in close proximity to the senior leaders, academics and/or professionals they support. As such, administrative professionals will remain physically embedded in their existing colleges, schools or units. 

There are no plans to relocate administrative professionals from an Administrative Network to a central location.

The intent of the network is to align resources to support needs. This is often achieved through collaboration. If there is an increased need for support or training in a specific area in another unit, you may have the opportunity to provide your expertise.

For example, “Mary” is an expert in records management and supports the administrative needs of “College A”. Given her expertise in record management, Mary may have the opportunity to temporarily support this specialized work in another unit within the network. Although Mary might provide temporary records management support to “College B”, her primary responsibilities and physical location remain within her primary unit.

Generally, opportunities to provide expertise to other units is dependant on whether administrative professionals are interested in doing this work, if they have capacity, and whether there is expressed need and alignment.

One of the key objectives of the Administrative Network Project is to enhance staff retention, support career engagement and development, and identify positive career pathways for administrative professionals at USask. The administrative network manager will meet with you regularly to discuss career advancement opportunities and provide performance feedback, guidance and mentorship.

Through ongoing discussions between the administrative network manager and people leaders supported by the network, career growth opportunities may be identified within your current college, school or unit, or across the network.

It may, depending on the outcome of the Job Architecture Project. This is a campus-wide project to create consistent job titles and profiles.

Click here for more information on the Job Architecture Project. 

It is very important that the relationships amongst administrative professionals and their current people leaders remain and continue to grow. With the implementation of Administrative Networks, the administrative network manager assumes ‘employee life cycle’ responsibilities, while the current people leaders direct the day-to-day work.

In short, yes. Administrative professionals frequently have access to confidential information. When they join an Administrative Network, there is no expectation that they need to divulge confidential information to their manager or colleagues in the network. The expectation of confidentiality does not change.

The administrative network manager is focused on the employee and the resources they need to do their job. The manager is not focused on the specific confidential nuances of their day-to-day work.

In consultation with the President’s Executive Council and with the deans and executive director, the College of Education, College of Law, Edwards School of Business, and Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy were identified as the first group of colleges and school to take part in the Administrative Network Project due to their overall size and scope. The next Administrative Network Project will be determined through thorough consultation.  

It is important that administrative professionals work in close proximity to the senior leaders, academics and/or professionals they support. As such, administrative professionals will remain physically embedded in their existing colleges, schools or units. 

There are no plans to relocate administrative professionals from an Administrative Network to a central location.

Through an Administrative Network your administrative professionals will be connected centrally and will have greater access to knowledge and support on institutional policies, processes, and systems that can be applied within your college, school or unit, to ensure strategic and operational alignment. You will also benefit from greater coordination and consistency to ensure you always have support and coverage when needed, so that more time and focused attention can go towards your administrative duties, teaching and research.