Positive article from Courier-Post, Cherry Hill, NJ:
Circ: 82,135

April 21, 2004

In Camden, even former employee to be honored today for her work

By JOSEPH BUSLER

"You are only as good as your assistant,' says Yocontalie A. Jackson, Camden's rent regulations officer.

Her administrative assistant, Melissa Snype, 33, of Sicklerville has recently been reassigned to another office, and neither is happy about it.

Reassigned or not, Snype will be having lunch at a quaint little Italian restaurant today -- national Administrative Professionals Day -- as Jackson's guest.

Administrative Professionals Day and Administrative Professionals Week, celebrated this week, date to 1952 when Mary Barrett, president of the national Secretaries Association, and C. King Woodbridge, president of Dictaphone Corp., successfully campaigned to have the first National Secretaries Week declared June 1-7, with National Secretaries Day on June 4. Three years later, the date was moved to the last full week of April.

In 2000, the names were changed to Administrative Professionals Week and Day to recognize the expanding responsibilities and wide-ranging job titles of administrative support staff. The sponsoring organization has also evolved into the International Association of Administrative Professionals.

Snype is an example of how complicated the job can be.

"Melissa is highly skilled,' said Jackson, 46, of Camden, a city employee for 16 years and a former member of the school board.

"I take a lot of cases to court and also have hearings between landlords and tenants. Finding somebody who can handle that type of environment can be difficult. I needed her in hearings and to prepare cases. If you go into court poorly organized, the judge gets frustrated.'

Jackson said Snype, who was with her for two years, also brought other skills to the job, such as doing data entry into the landlord registry.

"The database keeps track of how many landlords we have in the city and helps with compliance and revenue,' Jackson said.

Besides her job, Snype is enrolled in Camden County College to study criminal justice and is also raising her daughter, Ciara, 14.

She doesn't like the fact that she has been moved around. She's now working in the building bureau.

"I wouldn't mind going back to Connie,' she said. "I love working with her.'

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