Monday Matters
Today I have the opportunity of introducing you to three new staff positions in the College of Education, as well as the three people we have welcomed to our College to work in these positions. A fourth position has been created in Instructional Support, but we are still in the process of selecting the person who will assume the responsibilities of that position. I will introduce you to that individual in the near future in a column devoted to the functions of this new office.
A Time for Change
One of the characteristics of a dynamic organization is that it must change to respond to shifting societal needs, economics, needs of the clientele, and technological advances. The unfortunate part of such change is that we have to eliminate staff or faculty positions and say sad goodbyes to the people who have served in these positions. This does not reflect the value of these employees. Rational organizational change is a response to the dynamics of the total enterprise and is not an indictment of specific individuals. It is the necessary reallocation of resources that must come with change. These changes can come from external pressures (e.g. budget cuts) or from internal decisions (e.g. programmatic change).
On the positive side, a dynamic organization that changes in response to both internal vision and external pressures is best poised to remain a valid member, or even a leader, of a changing society. Several key themes have driven the changes in the College. Among the external factors are the issues of accountability, technological advances, and continuing economic strains. The specific internal force is our decision to establish new undergraduate programs. The staff changes in the College consist of a strategic response that has saved the College $60,000 annually while simultaneously providing increased resources for addressing some areas of need.
Dean's Office Administrative Coordinator
The first employee I would like to introduce you to is Holly Rauch (the "ch" is pronounced as a "k"), our new administrative coordinator in the Dean's Office. Holly joins us with over 10 years of administrative experience, most recently with Kleinschmidt Associates in West Columbia. Holly will be providing administrative support for the Dean's Office, the Development Office, the Conference Office and several key College committees. Her duties include editing and formatting the many reports that the deans are responsible for. She will also be developing databases to track facilities and resources, faculty and staff data, and grants and contracts. These databases will help us make systematic and informed data-driven decisions in our strategic planning. Holly will also be creating and maintaining the Dean's Office web pages, including daily updates of schedules, news items, and other information that appears on these web pages.
Holly's husband, Todd Leger, is a machinist for Cooper Power Tools in Lexington. Holly's daughter, Lyssa Rauch, is a freshman at Winthrop University, majoring in political science. Outside the office, Holly and Todd enjoy gourmet cooking, reading, music, theater, and traveling. Holly also takes digital photos of high school marching band and concert band events for BandLink.org, the South Carolina Band Directors' Association web page.
College Technology Support
As we make the transition to electronic forms and new web-based administrative systems, such as the new budget system, it has become necessary for David Michaels to spend more and more of his time as a network developer for the College. This has created a need for a full-time staff member to maintain and upgrade computer systems and provide desktop support. Al Davis joins the College as an information resource consultant. If you haven't met him already, you will soon see Al upgrading computers, responding to work orders and repair requests, and providing general desktop support for members of the faculty and staff. One of Al's first major tasks will be to bring every computer up to modern specifications that we are establishing for the College. Once this has been accomplished, we will continue to increase our baseline specification and will have ongoing computer purchases and upgrades on a schedule that is supported in our budget planning.
Al joins us from the Computer Services Department of the University where he has worked maintaining computers and peripherals since 1997. Prior to joining the University he was a computer technician for Sears and also spent many years as a technician in the United States Army. Al is married with three daughters (ages 28, 25, and 16) and an adopted son (age 13). He loves art and music of all kinds.
Student Affairs and Quality Assurance Assistant
With the development of a new undergraduate program, the Office of Student Affairs has reorganized to accommodate the additional duties that are associated with such a major undertaking and large numbers of students. This summer we advertised for a new administrative assistant and were fortunate enough to find an excellent applicant among the members of our current staff. Lisa Sanders will be assuming the duties of the new position, which includes working for both the Office of Student Affairs and the Office of Quality Assurance and Accreditation. In her new position Lisa will be the primary contact and source person for questions about certification. She will also provide support for the development, maintenance and utilization of the Professional Education Unit's new database and unit-wide assessment system. This means that Lisa will be busy compiling and analyzing survey and other data, as well as preparing electronic and paper documents and files as needed for accreditation.
Lisa has been with the College in the Office of Student Affairs in another capacity for the past year. Her previous experience includes work in the USC Employment Office. Lisa is a graduate of the University with a degree in biology. She is married and has a 7-month-old son. In her spare time she enjoys reading and is taking up quilt making.
We are indeed fortunate to have found three qualified individuals to become part of our team. I know that you will make each of them feel welcome. As they will learn, this College has an excellent and dedicated work force. I am certain that your sincere welcome and the pleasant work environment that you have created will soon make our new staff members proud that they have chosen to join such an exceptional staff.
Until next week,
Mike