Back to the Experience Section

STARS Alliance Administrative Assistant

The Florida State University College of Information – Tallahassee, FL

September 2007 – August 2008

Job Duties

As an administrative assistant for the STARS Alliance Organization at Florida State University, my main task was to update the organization's website. I updated, added new information, and made corrections to the site. For this task, I had to edit and work with some PHP code as well as work with a small MySQL database.

I was also required to update and organize the organization’s Blackboard site. Blackboard is an academic software package that provides course enhancement, online applications and various other functions (learn more about Blackboard). In Blackboard, I posted new documents and organized information on the site. I also added new members to the organization, which gave these members access to the site when they logged into their Blackboard account.

Finally, I completed a variety of tasks as necessary. These tasks included spreadsheet work, reports, paper work, and even research. I also worked with the leaders of the group and assisted them whenever possible.

Technical Skills Acquired

• PHP - While updating the website, I learned to work with some simple PHP scripts. The site uses PHP to pull data from a database. I learned how to edit one of the PHP scripts so that it could pull new information from the database and format the data properly. I also worked with a PHP application form that allows new students to apply to the organization. I edited the PHP script to include new fields. I also edited the script so that a copy of the application is emailed to the organization’s leader before it is stored into the database.
• MySQL Database Management- By working with the PHP scripts, I learned how to manage a small MySQL database. Using the program HeidiSQL, I learned how to connect to the database so that I could edit and maintain the database. I learned how to update the data in the database and how to insert and delete fields. Using HeidiSQL, I did not have to actually write MySQL statements to update the database. However, I am familiar with some basic MySQL query statements.

Transferable Skills Acquired

• Professional Email Communication - I met with my supervisor weekly, but for the most part, I communicated via email. I learned a lot about email communication. I learned to be prompt and professional in my emails. I have learned how to write emails that are detailed and informative, but yet are still concise.
• Communication Within an Organization - I gained experience in communicating with members of an organization. STARS Alliance is very diverse and I learned how to communicate with a variety of people. This is the first organization that I had the opportunity to work with and it taught me a lot about organizational structure and communication.

Samples

• STARS Alliance Website - This is the website that I updated and maintained on a regular basis. I did not develop the website, I merely maintained it.
  
  Visit the STARS Alliance Website