Fifty-one years ago on December 5, 1957, at the Hotel Biltmore in New York City, 11 executive secretaries from psychoanalytic institutes and training centers across the country met for the first time to learn about each institute's office infrastructure.
The impetus for the group's first invitation to attend Executive Council and Board on Professional Standards meetings, came from APsaA's interest in reviewing its educational program and improving the quality of its training. A three-year, in-person Survey of Psychoanalytic Education of the then 17 APsaA training facilities, found that there was divergence of practice with regard to administrative matters, with varying degrees of effectiveness. Executive secretaries were invited to meet as a group to exchange ideas and procedures so that one would benefit from the other. Numerous questions related to operational procedures were asked, and the responses made it evident that conditions varied at each institute. The group decided to select one topic and then exchange materials on it from each institute. The group's name became GOES, an acronym of Group of Executive Secretaries.
Members of GOES quickly discovered that despite the varying organizational structures of their individual organizations, the common goal was to effectively and efficiently manage the unique educational system that produced skilled psychoanalysts. The yearly meetings in which executive secretaries came to exchange ideas and procedures resulted in GOES laying the groundwork for procedures related to admissions, progression, faculty appointment, record keeping, and improving office systems at individual institutes. This created a more coherent national network of administrators as well as helping each institute.
Fast forward to December 15, 1981, which found administrators with expanded job descriptions and increased responsibilities. GOES changed its name to Association of Administrators (AOA). Which came first, the name change, or the change in the responsibilities of the individual members of GOES? Whichever it was, the fact is that those at the helm of administrative functioning of institutes, societies, and centers had in 1981, and continue to have in 2008, a broader scope of work than their 1957 predecessors. In 1957, 81 percent of the members of GOES came from an educational or medical work background and only 19 percent came from a business background. Today it is not unusual for the administrator of a psychoanalytic organization to have experience working with other nonprofit organizations, to have business ownership/management experience, and to have an advanced academic degree.
It is administrators who offer continuity, so that important policy changes are not lost as leadership personnel changes.
As psychoanalytic training continues to evolve, institutes and societies are changing their structures. With the need to better market their services in an expanded way, administrators with specialized skills are hired to handle the administrative aspects of numerous projects such as development/fundraising campaigns, considering ways to increase enrollment, launching and maintaining Web sites, developing newsletters, preparing marketing plans, planning community outreach programs, and designing print materials.
A particular day might find an administrator conferring with the bookkeeper in preparation for a Finance Committee meeting, editing a forthcoming center brochure, drafting an article for a newsletter, advising administrative staff of a new policy decision about candidate courses, mailing confirmation letters to faculty for the upcoming academic year, e-mailing institute officers with an idea for a meeting with representatives of another mental health organization, monitoring CME program evaluations and applications for the following year, talking over publicity options with a consultant, completing a renewal application for institute and society liability insurance. These highly trained professionals serve as administrative liaisons between officers and faculty, between committee chairs and members, among various entities within their local organizations, and sometimes within APs Administrators represent their local organizations nationally at the AOA meetings during the biannual APsaA meetings, and many times serve in various capacities in the AOA.
As of December 2008, there are approximately 32 members in the AOA, with tenures ranging from six months to 38 years. AOA members continue to support one another through sharing information and ideas at their biannual meetings. The relationships they establish with one another, with the staff at APsaA's national office, and with APsaA officers contribute to the ability of an administrator to have up-to-date, first-hand information about current national and local trends on issues such as informed consent, insurance for clinics, and the best way to offer PEPWEB to members.
Administrators provide direction for the lines of communication while officers and faculty members change leadership roles. It is administrators who offer continuity, so that important policy changes are not lost as leadership personnel changes.
Dionne Hogans is the administrator at the Wisconsin Psychoanalytic Institute, Society, and Foundation.
Elizabeth Manne is the executive director at the Baltimore Washington Center for Psychoanalysis.
Members of AOA have come a long way. With gratitude to the founding Group of Executive Secretaries who laid the groundwork for us, and thanks to the current administrators for their continuing support, their ongoing dedication, creativity, and resourcefulness, we look forward to the next 51 years. Please join with the Association of Administrators in celebrating its accomplishments, and support us as we support you, APsaA members, as we face the challenges of the future together.
Happy birthday to the Association of Administrators!
Editor's Note: The American Psychoanalyst is grateful to the writers of the Forward column for their valuable editorial contributions over the last year.