About Us

Definition of an Administrative Professional

IAAP defines administrative professionals as: "Individuals who are responsible for administrative tasks and coordination of information in support of an office-related environment and who are dedicated to furthering their personal and professional growth in their chosen profession."

• Integrity: We demonstrate this cornerstone of our profession through honesty, accountability and high ethical standards.
• Respect: We create respect within our profession and association through listening, understanding and acknowledging member feedback.
• Adaptability: We ensure the success of our association by embracing positive change and by nurturing diversity, creativity and visionary thinking.
• Communication: We cultivate and maintain excellence by remaining approachable at all levels, communicating openly and building strong relationships.
• Commitment: We are steadfast in our goals to develop learning opportunities for career-minded administrative professionals and to strengthen efficiency and effectiveness.

Association Structure

IAAP is a not-for-profit organization of over 22,000 members governed by a 12-member International Board of Directors, elected annually by member delegates at the IAAP International Convention and Education Forum. IAAP owns and operates its own headquarters building, located in Kansas City, Missouri, as well as the world's only retirement facility specifically for administrative professionals: Vista Grande in New Mexico.

The association is divided into six districts and 26 affiliate associations. There are five districts in the US (Great Lakes, Northeast, Northwest, Southeast and Southwest) and the sixth is the Canada District. Once a year, in May, the Canada District hosts the Canada Divisions Conference to bring members from across the country together for education, networking, and fun - and we are the only district currently holding a conference for all divisions in the district. The district is overseen by the Canada District Director. The director serves a two-year term, and then a new director for each district is elected at the International Convention.

Canada District has three divisions - Western Canada, Ontario, and Eastern Canada. The East Coast Admins Chapter is part of the Eastern Canada Division, which consists of four chapters and covers the Atlantic provinces and part of Quebec. The Eastern Canada Division board consists of four individuals, a President, President-Elect, Secretary and Treasurer who each serve a one-year term and are elected at the Canada Divisions Conference. In total, there are 36 divisions in the association.

The East Coast Admins Chapter is the Newfoundland chapter of the association, and one of nearly 600 worldwide. We currently have approximately 72 members from a variety of companies. The chapter is run by an executive consisting of a President, President-Elect, Secretary, and Treasurer, and a dedicated slate of volunteers who serve as chairs of a number of committees. Many members work on these committees to organize the programs offered by the chapter.

IAAP Organizational Chart

Association History

IAAP was founded in 1942 as the National Secretaries Association (NSA) to provide a professional network and educational resources for secretarial staff. Later, as the association grew outside the United States, it became known as Professional Secretaries International (PSI). The association's name was changed again in 1998 to the International Association of Administrative Professionals (IAAP) to encompass the large number of varied administrative job titles and recognize the advancing role of administrative support staff in business and government.

IAAP established the Certified Professional Secretary (CPS) program in 1951 to set recognized standards of excellence in the profession. IAAP introduced an additional advanced certification, the Certified Administrative Professional (CAP) program, in 2001. Newfoundland was a test site for the CAP exam and three of East Coast Admins Chapter's members earned the CAP designation in the inaugural writing. Newfoundland has also held the honor of having the highest per capita of certification holders. In 2011, the IAAP moved towards a new designation program.  The CPS designation was replaced with CAP and a new stream of specialities was introduced.  CAP holders can now specialize into two different programs; Organizational Management (OM) or Technology Applications (TA).

Our chapter, then known as the Beothuk Chapter, was launched in June 1973 by a group of secretaries at Memorial University who wanted to be acknowledged for their dedicated work as "secretaries." When the chapter was formed, the term Beothuk was closely associated with the university. In the intervening years, our membership expanded well beyond the university to include members from business and government sectors, and the membership felt it was time to develop a new name which better reflected career-minded administrative professionals in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador.  As a result, in 2008 - to celebrate our 35th anniversary - the name East Coast Admins Chapter was chosen to better explain who we are and why we exist as well as to symbolize our pride in our position on the east coast of North America.

IAAP now has members and chapters in 66 countries representing most Fortune 500 companies, hundreds of mid- to small-sized businesses, educational institutions, nonprofit organizations, and federal, state, and local government agencies.