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OFFICE SYSTEMS &
RECORDS MANAGEMENT

Does your office equipment work
faster than you do?

Is the new computerized filing sys-
tem in your office getting you down
or does the word processor refuse to
print out your last two hours worth
of work?

Situations like these may sound
unrealistic, but new technologies
are rapidly changing the way the
modern office is working and many
employees are finding their traditiom
al skills taxed to the limit.

If you have three years of work
experience in an office, and the de-
sire to upgrade your skills, Douglas
College has a program especially for
you.

Office Systems and Records Management

is a two semester, high tech look at
new equipment and how it is used in
the office place. Program coordi-
nator Marion Hill says her graduates
are discovering just how exciting it
is to fit into the changing roles in
the office.

Office Systems and Records Managemert
is a relatively new program for

Douglas College. This year will see
the second graduating class head in-
to the workforce with many advanta@s
over people without similar training}

"A lot of employment agencies are
already asking specifically for
graduates of Douglas College's
Office Systems and Records Managemert
program," Hill says. "A good esti-
mate would put about 80 per cent of
our grads into the workforce within
three months of finishing the pro-
gram."

And the figures Hill states are not
surprising. Students in the program

 

have the benefit of using state-of-
the-art equipment for a variety of
purposes.

The program uses the most advanced
technologies available at Douglas
College, including IBM Personal
Computers, AES MultiPluses and
several other high tech devices.

Add these to the software packages
used by the graduates and it is easy
to see why Hill says her graduates
are prime candidates for quick pro-
motions once they leave Douglas
College.

"Another of our focuses is on super 4
visory techniques," Hill says. "We
don't expect the students to move
right into a management position,
but we do provide them with a very
clear career path."

Students also learn the theory be-
hind Micrographics and Reprographics,
she adds.

For most students, the work begins
before April 1, the final deadline
for application to September classes.
After applying, candidates are
assessed for their writing, typing
and computer aptitude skills.

Even if a person does not have the
prerequisite levels, they could be
accepted into Office Systems and
Records Management while taking up-
grading classes in other areas.

But the real test comes in the first
of the two semesters when students
begin work in Word Processing,
Records Management, Financial Mathe-
matics, Accounting, Computer Progran-
ming and Writing classes.

"The beginning of the program will
familiarize our students with what i
expected of them once they enter a
work situation," Hill says. "And

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