Is the title "secretary" unprofessional?

[Phydeaux]

Another data point from the Midwest.  We absolutely have distinct positions for administrative assistants and secretaries.

At my place, the people who staff the main department office are "administrative secretaries." Someone with more experience (and, presumably, higher pay) is an "administrative secretary, senior."

[Cheerful]

Well, not always. Some colleges have been replacing "Director" with "Dean" even if the position is not associated with faculty and curriculum. For example, instead of Director of Business Services or Director of Student Housing, I'll see Dean of Business Services or Dean of Student Housing. That's less verbiage, but is completely confusing and even misleading. That's the kind of rebranding I do not want, even if it is less syllables.

Indeed.  We have many such "deans" and the highest education level for some is the bachelor's degree.

[apl68]

Interesting variety of terminologies in use at different places. 

Right off the top of my head, I don't recall the office staff at either my undergrad or grad departments being called anything, except their given names.  Granted, these were not very large departments, so things weren't too formal.  I have no idea what either institution's official position descriptions called them.

I work in a profession where we're all regarded in some quarters (by academics and the general public alike) as essentially clerical help.  Even those of us with our MLS.

[newprofwife]

I work at a large, research university in the Northeast and staff have both titles but most are called admins. As an academic advisor, I feel as though my job is a mix of the two roles. One one hand, I perform high level intellectual work from providing data, solving highly complex academic issues, providing crisis intervention but I am expected to help with service too. I'm the one who does event planning from catering to cleaning up, making copies, etc. In any given day, I am just a pencil pusher signing off on forms, making copies. The next minute, I am dealing with a student who discloses they have been raped or may kill themselves and I use my training to get this student in crisis to the right help. After dealing with this crisis, I may have several other meetings with students where I just tell them what classes to take. Then I might have an event to plan where we decide on which cookies to order for the event. At the event, I might clean up after others because someone has to do the dirty work. Then I might have to figure out some data and update our website. We are treated like "secretaries" but this is not a bad thing since secretaries have a good role to play too. Just because I sometimes make copies and sometimes do the catering order, it doesn't mean you can treat me in a poor way like your secretary since I have an advanced degree too.        We're all mainly women and we are overworked and undervalued and we make up the majority of pink color jobs in academic whether we are admins, secretaries, academic advisors, etc.         

[lightning]

I work at a large, research university in the Northeast and staff have both titles but most are called admins. As an academic advisor, I feel as though my job is a mix of the two roles. One one hand, I perform high level intellectual work from providing data, solving highly complex academic issues, providing crisis intervention but I am expected to help with service too. I'm the one who does event planning from catering to cleaning up, making copies, etc. In any given day, I am just a pencil pusher signing off on forms, making copies. The next minute, I am dealing with a student who discloses they have been raped or may kill themselves and I use my training to get this student in crisis to the right help. After dealing with this crisis, I may have several other meetings with students where I just tell them what classes to take. Then I might have an event to plan where we decide on which cookies to order for the event. At the event, I might clean up after others because someone has to do the dirty work. Then I might have to figure out some data and update our website. We are treated like "secretaries" but this is not a bad thing since secretaries have a good role to play too. Just because I sometimes make copies and sometimes do the catering order, it doesn't mean you can treat me in a poor way like your secretary since I have an advanced degree too.        We're all mainly women and we are overworked and undervalued and we make up the majority of pink color jobs in academic whether we are admins, secretaries, academic advisors, etc.         

At a large research university, academic advisors should have an army of work-study students, and maybe even a graduate assistant doing event planning, catering, cleaning up, making copies, pencil pushing, scheduling appointments, chasing down faculty, chasing down students, gophering, etc.

[newprofwife]

We don't have the resources for enough work-study students or admins to run our advising office and we are among the top 25 public research universities in the nation. We're the best in our state. Just the way things are. Women's labor and emotional work is undervalued. But at the end of the day, someone has to do the dirty work for the common good. If we want a staff event with lunch, someone on the committee needs to do the catering order.

If we have open houses, someone needs to make the 100 copies of the brochures, someone needs to handle traffic control, put up the signs, move the furniture, while parents/students scream at you because they can't find a faculty member to talk to or because the room got full. Someone needs to figure out all the event planning details. And on top of handling all those tiny admin details, we are expected to conduct group presentations and talk to students/families about our expertise.

There are budget issues so we can't get the support we need and we are expected to be a combo of admin/academic professionals. Plus, we are not faculty with PhD s, we basically are treated like  secretaries.

There are advisors who rent vans, who organize the department BBQ here, do enrollment management, run the publicity efforts for the departments, oversee and supervise the work-study workers, update the websites, etc.

Oh, and some of these folks have caseloads from 200-600 students.

The students are amazing and there are some great staff/faculty. Many of these events would not be possible without the invisible labor of mainly women (advisors are mainly women). We're not running around getting coffee and picking up dry-cleaning but someone has to figure out which cookies are best to order for events, figure out the sitting chart for an event of 300 people, someone has to pack up the food because the dining staff catering the event are not our servants.

Faculty have to do this too. You have to plan events and someone needs to figure out the food, location and I've seen faculty members, including my own husband step up to the plate.           
   
         

[toothpaste]

"To be their secretary? I don't think so!"

Alexander Hamilton, as understood by Lin-Manuel Miranda

[Aster]

Our employees with the new names hold the exact same positions, with the exact same duties. We very much have title bloat. There is zero difference between a "secretary" and an "administrative assistant" in our institution. When we do the bloat thing, we literally expunge the older title.

We don't have anyone called a secretary. But we do have several administrative assistants that were once classified as "secretary" about 15 years back. We don't have that job title any more.

All of our administrative assistants are classified as clerical.  And while they do make copies, get coffee, answer phones, and pick up doughnuts, most of their daily time is spent keeping the college running.

I don't think I've encountered the stereotypical TV version of a secretary in the Higher Ed environment since the late 1990's. There was an old lady in an old building who mostly just delivered people's mail, typed up letters, and went home early each day. But she retired like 20 years ago.

[Myword]

It probably depends on the place of work.
Secretary is not customary any longer but I don't think it is unprofessional.
You think Administrative Asst. is professional? Not really.
We know that the latter is perceived as nicer or more important.

[larryc]

I was introducing someone to our wonderful Administrative Assistant the other day:

Me: This is Sue, our Administrative Assistant, and she--

Sue (laughs): I'm the secretary.

Me (taking the bait): --she has been our Administrative Assistant for five years--

Sue: SECRETARY.