As the new president of UTMB’s Administrative Professionals Association, Florence McMillian is on a mission to build membership and broaden the appeal of the organization.
Founded in 1956 as the Secretaries Club, its name was changed to Support Staff Professionals in 2001 when the group grew to include more than secretaries. Today—more than 60 years since its founding—members are celebrating a new name: Administrative Professionals Association (APA).
“It’s so exciting to play a role in the evolution of this group,” said McMillian, who is an administrative specialist for the Willed Body Program and first joined the Secretaries Club in 1975. “Recognizing and providing opportunities for administrative staff is so important. We make UTMB tick—for every department, you can’t function well unless you have great administrative staff.”
Open to anyone currently employed by or retired from UTMB in an administrative position, the APA provides members with opportunities for continuing professional and personal education, leadership development, a team-oriented network of administrative staff across the university, and opportunities to volunteer and become more involved at UTMB and in the local community.
With a current membership of about 55 UTMB employees, McMillian is looking to build membership back up to the organization’s “heydays” before Hurricane Ike, when it had more than 200 members.
“We are really working on branching out to all the different UTMB locations,” she said. “As UTMB grows, we don’t want our administrative professionals to lose connection. So we have recruited members in Clear Lake, Angleton Danbury, Friendswood, Texas City, Alvin and more, who either come to Galveston for our meetings or video conference into our luncheons. It’s a great opportunity to network and learn about other departments and the administrative field.”
For more information about the APA, visit
www.utmb.edu/apa.