Program Assistant
- Job function (e.g., overall role, assigned tasks)
- Examples of projects (e.g., list the projects you worked on and what you accomplished)
- What you learned and how it relates to your major (e.g., describe what you learned from this experience in the context of specific courses)
- Once approved, the description is automatically displayed in a post on your e-portfolio.
I recently gained valuable experience in the community relations department at Temple University. Temple University is a huge presence in one of America’s most underserved communities. Temple dedicates a great amount of resources to making a difference in the community that it operates in. I was brought on as a program assistant at the beginning of the Spring semester. There were twelve other program assistants with a variety of skill sets and backgrounds.
For my main assignment I was given the opportunity to lead a team of four other interns on a project to create an Access database for the program. With so much data already collected on everything from excel spreadsheets to sticky notes, I had to spend a lot of time inputting and cleaning data so that the database would be neet and operate correctly. This assignment helped reinforce my relational database architecture. I also got the opportunity to put into practice some of the project management techniques that I picked up in MIS 3535 during the Spring semester.
I was also assigned to The Workforce Connection Hub where my task was to help visitors build digital literacy, look for jobs and troubleshoot their technological problems. It has been on this assignment where I got to build customer service and troubleshooting skills.
Another opportunity that allowed me to gain valuable experience was teaching an iPhone and Android class. After the assigned teacher quit, my supervisor thought my background in MIS made me a suitable replacement. I taught the class of about fifteen seniors how to operate their smartphones. I was only familiar with the iPhone OS so this assignment forced me to learn a new technology quickly and efficiently.