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WCC Corner: Skill up with an office administration degree



Jessica Griffin

Ever thought about office management? Or maybe you work in an office setting and just need that extra credential to move you up the ladder?  WCC has you covered with our two-year office administration degree.

The office administration program at Wilson Community College prepares graduates to be successful in office support jobs in business, industry, government, education, law, medicine, science and the arts — just to name a few. The skills learned in the program are a great foundation for excelling in any job setting. Graduates learn the knowledge and skills needed to smoothly run and manage an office, which can be invaluable to their employers. 



There’s more to it than just the degree itself.  The two-year degree, with a focus on the office assistant and bookkeeping disciplines, prepares the student for skills in accounts payable, receivable, payroll, accounting software and general accounting duties. We also offer an administrative assistant certificate, office software certificate and an office assistant/bookkeeping certificate, all of which can be completed in three short semesters.

And we have a new instructor leading the program. Samara Taft begins this week as our new office administration instructor. She comes to WCC from Lenoir Community College, where she taught part-time in the office administration program for several years while working full-time as an NCWorks Career Center manager and director of Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Title I programs. She also brings many years of experience as an administrative assistant, even working for NASA! She holds an Associate in Applied Science degree in office administration and a bachelor’s degree in business administration.           

“The office administration program gave me the tools to jump-start my professional career. As a product of this community college program, I still use the tools I acquired in today’s work environment,” Taft said.

Some of the jobs available for folks with an office administration degree include receptionists, secretaries, accounting clerks and information clerks. And even better — career opportunities are available for advancement and promotion to middle management and supervisory positions. So if you’re looking to skill up in the workplace, this may be the opportunity you’ve been looking for.  

And here’s the best part:  you can do this around your already busy schedule because it’s all completely online. 

Students learn Microsoft Office Suite programs, QuickBooks, Web 2.0 tools (think online collaborative documents and Web pages) and writing and verbal skills. Scholarships and financial aid are also available — so we can make this work for your schedule and your budget.

“Our office administration graduates are well prepared for the workplace. We teach them a wide range of skills, from an ‘old-school approach’ of operating a 10-key adding machine to learning the newest forms of cloud software so they can successfully manage almost any type of office in today’s world. It’s also an extremely attractive degree because all the classes are offered online,” said Wes Hill, dean of continuing education and dean of business and applied technologies. 

For more information on the program, contact Samara Taft, office administration instructor, at staft@wilsoncc.edu, or Wes Hill at whill@wilsoncc.edu. At #WilsonCC, we make Wilson work.

WHAT’S HAPPENING

• Aug. 10-17 — Fall registration and early registration for winter term.

• Aug. 15 — First day of fall semester classes. 

Jessica Griffin is director of institutional advancement at Wilson Community College. She can be reached at jgriffin@wilsoncc.edu or 252-246-1271.

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