Do you know shorthand?
The University of Detroit used to offer a two-year certificate in Secretarial Science from 1941-42 to 1969-70. The program in secretarial training was for those students who did not plan to attend college for more than two years. Course requirements included accounting, shorthand, typewriting, basic business machines, business communications, legal stenography, and secretarial office practice. There were also theology requirements for Catholics, non-Catholic students could substitute six hours of study in biology, chemistry, geography, history, mathematics, philosophy, physics, political science, psychology or sociology. There were even awards given out for students in the program: Detroit Chapter of the National Secretaries Association (International) Award gave a cash award (to go towards tuition) for the freshman student with the highest scholastic average during the freshman year and Secretary of the Year Award by the Phi Beta Lambda (Gamma Eta Chapter), the student was given a secretary’s manual and a certificate of recognition to acknowledge scholastic attainment and mastery of secretarial skills.
A Secretarial Science Club was organized in 1956. The club’s projects included secretarial work for all the major student committees on campus. At some point the Secretarial Science Club went away and Phi Beta Lambda came to be the professional organization for students in secretarial science, business education and business administration. The two-year secretarial program ended as more women found that the four-year program offered more opportunities.
