 What is the ACT Program? |
The Administrative Career Training (ACT) Program is a comprehensive training program designed for key administrative staff (department coordinators, department administrators, and others who perform similar duties in their departments).
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| Why has the ACT Program been developed? |
The ACT Program has been developed to help make the job of the department administrator and coordinator easier, and get them going at Rice, by understanding their responsibilities, understanding the administrative offices at Rice, and showing them where to get help.As a result of participating in this training, department administrators and coordinators will benefit from a streamlined learning curve, resulting in greater efficiency and productivity that will occur much more quickly than without the training. The departments with these staff naturally will reap the same benefits.
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| Who developed the ACT Program? |
The Training Advisory Group (TAG) first convened in May 2001, and since that time has spent a great deal of time developing the ACT Program. The TAG is composed of school administrators, assistant deans, division administrators, department administrators, and department coordinators from across campus.
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| What is the ACT Program curriculum? |
The ACT Program curriculum is divided into four parts:
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Rice information ("Rice 101;" basic administration information)
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Financial skills(Banner Overview; Analytical Skills; Payroll; Budget; Buy/Pay & Controller's) and Human Resources skills (Life Cycles at Rice; forms; etc.)
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Academic Department skills (Student track Faculty track Research track)
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Personal Excellence track (Time Management; Interpersonal Skills; Polishing Your Communication Skills)
One or more classes is associated with each part of the training. We'll begin to roll out the training in Fall 2002, and continue roll out in Spring 2003.
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Who is designing and delivering the ACT courses?
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Several entities are involved in the design and delivery of ACT courses. Due to the Rice-specific nature of so much of this program, members of the Rice community are highly involved in course design and delivery. Rice staff are designing some of the courses ourselves. We've also engaged the services of a couple of consultants who, working with Rice subject matter experts from across campus, will design other courses so we can have them ready for roll out in Spring 2003.
Most of the courses will be delivered by various members of the Rice community (Human Resources staff, staff from other administrative departments, and others from academic departments). A few courses with more generic content (i.e., Interpersonal Skills) will be delivered by outside facilitators.
Rest assured that, regardless of who is designing and/or delivering any ACT course, we're committed that your training experience is well-thought out, useful, and invaluable.
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| When and how often will ACT courses be offered? |
In Fall 2002, we will offer ACT courses on Rice information, faculty administration, and personal excellence. Each of the classes will be offered twice.
While we're still designing the rest of the program, in Spring 2003 we're planning to offer ACT courses on financial skills, HR skills, and academic department skills. Until we complete the design of these classes, and map out a schedule, it's hard to tell how many times we'll offer each class next Spring.
Once the entire curriculum has been designed and rolled out, we anticipate assembling a schedule of classes that coincides with key timetables in the departments (i.e., offer the Budget class in advance of the start of the budget cycle, etc.). Until we have a better idea of the demand for the classes, it's hard to say whether we'll offer the entire curriculum once a year, twice a year, on a rotating basis beginning every quarter, or in any other way. We'd love to hear from you about this . . . send your thoughts, comments, suggestions, etc. to actpgm@rice.edu.
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| How can I find out about ACT courses being offered now? |
The current schedule of ACT courses, and the ability to register for these courses, is available on the Training page of this ACT website.
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Who can take ACT courses?
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ACT courses have been designed for current administrative staff (typically department coordinators and administrators), and especially for individuals new to those positions and/or new to Rice. However, if you aspire to an administrative position, and think you could benefit from the courses, we invite your participation.
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How can I receive updates about the ACT program?
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The two best ways to stay current about the ACT program are to (1) check out this website often, and (2) subscribe to the listserv, actlist@rice.edu. Go to the ContACT page of this website for listserv subscription instructions.
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| Can I just take a course here and there, or must I complete the entire ACT curriculum? |
Certainly, you can just take a course here and there. However, you're likely to get the greatest benefit from the program by taking all classes applicable to your current position. The curriculum has been designed to provide participants with a comprehensive set of tools for use back in the office, and the courses complement one another. We certainly won't reject your registration into a course because you don't sign up for all the courses. However, we strongly encourage you to complete the curriculum (at least as it relates to your current position). We know there's a significant time commitment involved, but we also believe there's a greater benefit to be gained from your participation in and attendance at the classes.
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