Claude is particularly well suited for the drafting, summarizing, and organizing tasks that take up a large portion of administrative time. This Knowledge Base article covers three ways that staff can begin using Claude for your work, as well as sample prompts that allow you to explore what it is capable of.
Because administrative work often involves sensitive information, like student records, personnel data, financial details, and confidential communications, do not input data into Claude that is not appropriate for a third-party tool. When in doubt, anonymize or generalize before sharing with Claude, and confirm with UNLV IT that your use case is appropriate.
Draft and Refine Communications
Use Claude to draft emails, reports, talking points, policy summaries, and presentations. Give Claude the context -- your audience, the purpose, any constraints -- and ask it to produce a first draft you can refine. Claude can also help you adjust tone for different audiences or translate a technical document into plain language for a broader readership.
Sample Prompt: "I am an administrative coordinator at UNLV preparing a memo to department chairs about changes to the annual budget reporting process. The changes are significant but the timeline is short. Draft a memo that is clear, direct, and acknowledges that this is an added burden without being apologetic."
Synthesize Documents
Upload meeting notes, committee reports, policy documents, or data exports and ask Claude to produce a structured summary, identify action items, or flag inconsistencies. Claude can process large amounts of text quickly and surface what matters most for your specific purpose.
Sample Prompt: "Here are the notes from our last four committee meetings. Can you identify all open action items, who they are assigned to, and which ones appear to be overdue based on the dates mentioned?"
Refine Processes
Use Claude to think through a workflow challenge, brainstorm solutions to an operational problem, or stress-test a proposed process change before rolling it out. Claude can help you anticipate obstacles, identify dependencies, and think through second-order effects you might not have considered.
Sample Prompt: "Our department is moving from a paper-based to a digital onboarding process for new staff. What are the most common failure points in this kind of transition and what steps would reduce risk?"
Before changing how your unit uses AI for administrative work, bring your team into the conversation. Start with low-risk applications and involving colleagues in adoption decisions. This is not because AI is dangerous, but because shared practices are more sustainable than individual ones.