Administrative assistant to the dean vs executive secretary

The differences between administrative assistant to the deans and executive secretaries can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become an administrative assistant to the dean, becoming an executive secretary takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, an administrative assistant to the dean has an average salary of $49,362, which is higher than the $46,594 average annual salary of an executive secretary.

The top three skills for an administrative assistant to the dean include travel arrangements, phone calls and scheduling appointments. The most important skills for an executive secretary are office procedures, payroll, and word processing.

Administrative assistant to the dean vs executive secretary overview

	Administrative Assistant To The Dean	Executive Secretary
Yearly salary	$49,362	$46,594
Hourly rate	$23.73	$22.40
Growth rate	-8%	-8%
Number of jobs	11,116	103,802
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 59%	Bachelor's Degree, 44%
Average age	50	49
Years of experience	2	4

What does an administrative assistant to the dean do?

An administrative assistant to the dean primarily performs administrative and clerical support tasks related to the daily operations of a college or university. Their responsibilities usually include handling calls and correspondence, preparing and processing documents, receiving and organizing files, overseeing schedules, arranging appointments, and running errands as needed. They also assist the dean in writing proposals and other reports, supervising student workers, and coordinating activities. Moreover, an administrative assistant to the dean maintains an active communication line with different offices for an efficient workflow.

What does an executive secretary do?

The primary role of executive secretaries is to provide clerical support to an executive or a high-level administrator. They are the ones who conduct the different administrative support tasks for executives which include managing the calendar of executives, answering phone calls, conducting research and sorting important files, preparing and proofreading monthly reports and industry documents that are relevant to the role of executives, and performing some bookkeeping activities such as invoice creation and office inventory tracking.

Administrative assistant to the dean vs executive secretary salary

Administrative assistant to the deans and executive secretaries have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Administrative Assistant To The Dean	Executive Secretary
Average salary	$49,362	$46,594
Salary range	Between $25,000 And $94,000	Between $31,000 And $69,000
Highest paying City	Santa Cruz, CA	New York, NY
Highest paying state	California	New York
Best paying company	Columbus College of Art & Design	InfosysPublicService
Best paying industry	Education	Government

Differences between administrative assistant to the dean and executive secretary education

There are a few differences between an administrative assistant to the dean and an executive secretary in terms of educational background:

	Administrative Assistant To The Dean	Executive Secretary
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 59%	Bachelor's Degree, 44%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	Northwestern University	Western Carolina University

Administrative assistant to the dean vs executive secretary demographics

Here are the differences between administrative assistant to the deans' and executive secretaries' demographics:

	Administrative Assistant To The Dean	Executive Secretary
Average age	50	49
Gender ratio	Male, 14.5% Female, 85.5%	Male, 7.7% Female, 92.3%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.4% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.4% Asian, 3.8% White, 65.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%	Black or African American, 7.6% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 11.2% Asian, 5.0% White, 71.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage	6%	10%

Differences between administrative assistant to the dean and executive secretary duties and responsibilities

Administrative assistant to the dean example responsibilities.

Manage finances including tuition, billing, services, and staff payroll.
Manage and coordinate complex internal and external meetings and/or events via videoconferencing, WebEx and teleconference calls.
Create detailed PowerPoint presentations for conferences, seminars, and workshops.
Process payroll data by collecting, coding, and computing time sheets for all part-time instructional and support staff.
Present PowerPoint presentations when need.
Review crime prevention surveys, economic crime and logistics security, and personnel security vulnerability assessments for high risk personnel.

Executive secretary example responsibilities.

Manage specific projects from start to finish as required by the SVP.
Manage high volume of requests and correspondence from executives and colleagues, pharmaceutical representatives, patients and outside physicians.
Assist in daily typing of correspondence to agencies regarding Medicare and Medicaid contracts.
Maintain all the student records in PowerSchool and generate report cards with accuracy.
Maintain all departmental information, including transcription of meeting minutes and all audit and payroll documentation.
Input miss time punch and vacation/sick time in KRONOS for employees.

Administrative assistant to the dean vs executive secretary skills

Common administrative assistant to the dean skills

Travel Arrangements, 10%
Phone Calls, 8%
Scheduling Appointments, 6%
Provides Administrative Support, 6%
Payroll, 5%
Financial Aid, 5%

Common executive secretary skills

Office Procedures, 9%
Payroll, 9%
Word Processing, 8%
PowerPoint, 8%
Financial Statements, 6%
Scheduling Appointments, 5%

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Administrative Assistant To The Dean
Administrative Assistant To The Dean vs Executive Secretary

Updated January 8, 2025

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