Administrative Professionals Academy
"APA provided me an opportunity to focus on self-awareness and identify my strengths and growth opportunities.
I’ve discovered what I value and expect from leadership and realize how effective I can be at implementing those same values—all while networking with my peers."
Expand Your Leadership Capacity
The Administrative Professionals Academy (APA) is a leadership development program created especially for administrative staff. APA empowers administrative professionals to grow personally and professionally.
Participants increase their skills by completing individual and group projects and receiving targeted course instruction. A major benefit of this program is networking with other professionals from government, university and business settings. All courses and projects are designed to identify and cultivate your individual leadership style.
APA consists of six full-day sessions over six months. Participants also complete project-based learning outside the classroom. The program culminates with a graduation ceremony where participants receive a certificate of completion.
Participant Benefits
- Targeted leadership development training
- Increased understanding of personal leadership styles and strengths
- Professional networking opportunities
- Exposure to community leaders
- Strengthened professional skills
- Enhanced leadership knowledge and capacity
Tuition
- $2,500 (covers all training materials, assessments and graduation)
Middle Tennessee
Cohort runs from July to December in Nashville.
Institute for Public Service Training Facility
193 Polk Avenue, Suite D (second floor)
Nashville, TN 37210
2025 Schedule:
- July 23
- August 20
- September 17
- October 15
- November 19
- December 10
- January 21, 2026 (Graduation)
East Tennessee
Cohort runs from January to June in Oak Ridge.
UT Law Enforcement Innovation Center
1201 Oak Ridge Turnpike, Suite 101
Oak Ridge, TN 37830
2026 Schedule:
- January 14
- February 18
- March 11
- April 15
- May 13
- June 10
- Graduation TBD
This powerful assessment is designed to help you understand yourself, your colleagues and how to work more efficiently with others.
The FIRO-B measures how you typically behave toward other people and how you expect them to act toward you. It can help you understand behavior in areas such as:
- How you come across to others and why this may or may not be how you see yourself.
- How and why conflict develops between well-meaning people.
- How to understand your own needs as you interact with others.
- How to manage your own needs in most interpersonal interactions.
- How behavior influences your ability to lead people and manage processes.
In this course, participants learn to:
- Increase emotional intelligence.
- Identify the consequences of unmanaged emotions on personal effectiveness.
- Describe the importance of emotional intelligence in building good relationships.
- Increase empathy and social skills.
- Practice techniques to achieve greater self-awareness, self-control and self-motivation.
- Understand how emotional intelligence can be applied at work to enhance employee relationships and increase productivity.
Explore the art and science of various communication styles, methods and behaviors. Practice communication skills with fellow participants and receive feedback from peers and facilitators.
Participants will increase the ability to:
- Proactively seek consistent communication and monitor data.
- Determine the supervisor’s and team’s priorities, goals and pressures.
- Exhibit positive behaviors that create an invaluable employee.
This course introduces key tools from Hoshin Planning Methodology to assist participants in organizing meetings, events and social activities. These versatile tools are applicable for both short-term and long-term planning projects. The focus will be a hands-on, practical application to ensure effective use in real-world scenarios.
Conflict is a natural part of life. How we deal with it speaks to our leadership ability. In this session, we'll learn about the common sources of conflict, how we typically approach conflict and potential ways to prevent it.
In this session, participants explore strategies for building trust, fostering strong relationships and creating meaningful moments that leave a lasting impact.
Designed to be practical and engaging, this class provides actionable insights into improving customer interactions, solving real-world challenges and elevating everyday service experiences to inspire trust and cooperation.
This interactive course explores the concept of influence, helping participants identify their unique spheres of impact and develop strategies to expand their reach inside and outside of work.
This course engages participants in discussions on the importance of projecting confidence and integrity as the foundation of executive presence. Through reflection and group activities, participants explore strategies they can use to build and sustain their executive presence.
