Support for the administrative high wire

General Article

Administrative Support Core Group helps new center administrators connect cross-divisionally with colleagues and share practical solutions for ongoing challenges of scientific life

Kristie Logan (left), Jenny Torgerson and Michel Gregory provide guidance for scientific support staff through the Administrative Support Core Group. photo by Todd McNaught

While working as an executive assistant for the ringmaster of a traveling circus, Michel Gregory thought he'd seen everything. A typical workday might find him calming an angry clown clamoring for higher pay or chasing down an escaped pack of trained pigs.

Still, nothing prepared him for the juggling act he faced on his first day as a scientific program coordinator at Fred Hutchinson two years ago. As the budget manager, supply purchaser and all-around administrative aide to three Basic Sciences Division laboratories, Gregory said that scarcely a week went by that he didn't encounter a new form or procedure required to get his job done.

"Every coordinator's job is different because every principal investigator (PI) wants different things," he said. "You can rely on your colleagues to a certain extent, but really, you're left on your own to figure out a lot of things."

Looking back on his early days at Fred Hutchinson, Gregory can empathize with the new administrators trying to grasp the many procedures at the center. That is why he joined the Administrative Support Core Group (ASCG).

Administrative outreach

Thanks to the ASCG, new administrators at the center no longer have to feel alone. At, least that is the goal of the 10 members, who revived the group in April 2003 under the direction of Kristie Logan, Clinical Research Division project manager, after the first ASCG disbanded in 1999.

The ASCG works to find practical solutions to the challenges of scientific administration. They disseminate information and provide guidance to build a network of knowledgeable and experienced employees. The group's membership spans all divisions and represents the seemingly invisible backbone of hundreds of staff members who handle the myriad clerical, reception and other so-called red-tape tasks that keep Fred Hutchinson running smoothly.

"The problem has always been that people join Fred Hutchinson as administrators and are tossed into the fire," said Jenny Torgerson, ASCG member and the grant and contract coordinator for the Cancer Epidemiology Research Cooperative. "You need to hit the ground running and keep going because work just goes really fast. We are just trying to make that a little easier by making information available. I think that is what members of the first ASCG wanted to do too."

Although the new group shares similar goals, they are working to organize many different activities and resources to help administrators throughout the center, such as the new Administrative Support Core Group Web site. The site includes a list of all the ASCG members and their contact information as well as a link to a list of several key personnel and their administrators at Fred Hutchinson and partner institutions. The group has also incorporated a contest where administrators can win a $25 gift certificate to a local restaurant for posting the best tips and tricks for their job to center colleagues.

"We are going to have some humor on the Web site, so we hope it will be fun to go back and revisit it occasionally," Torgerson said. "The problem with a lot of Web sites is they have a lot of text. Yes, you need to find out how to set up a seminar, and it tells you how, but that's really dry. We want this to be a lot more interactive so people use it more for connecting with other administrators."

Aside from the Web site the group members assist with a poster session at the new employee orientation meetings. In addition, every week, the group receives a list of new center hires, so the members in the ASCG can act as a welcome wagon for new administrators. Each member oversees a specific division offering the new hires assistance with any challenge they may face in the future.

"We are here to reach out to people so they don't feel stranded," Logan said.

Brown-bag discussions

In March, the ASCG hosted a brown-bag lunch for administrators as a kickoff to more open forum discussions. Administrators throughout the center discussed current challenges with their peers and how to create the most progressive training tools. They also learned about the Scientific Coordinator Ongoing Resource Enhancement (SCORE) initiative, which encourages networking and support among colleagues and will enhance resources for all administrative support personnel. Every month, on the third Wednesday, from noon to 1 p.m., the ASCG plans to organize a brown-bag presentation to introduce several topics that may aid administrators in navigating the center (check the Web site for dates).

"I think it is going to be pretty exciting," Torgerson said. "Everybody is really excited about the whole brown bag idea and getting to know cross-divisionally the other administrators."

Logan said that she hopes the resources available to new administrators and the many upcoming activities through the ASCG will help alleviate the feeling of the daily tightrope walk, experienced by newcomers.

"What we really want to do to keep the group alive is to keep the solutions going and identify the things that are causing administrators trouble so we can help," Logan said. "We want to address the common problems a lot of people are having and make their jobs a little bit easier."

For more information on the Administrative Support Core Group and to enter the contest, visit the ASCG Web site at ascg@fhcrc.org.

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