Reporting Structure

[McNeilTom@aol.com]

When I was with State University of New York, Fredonia School of Music, the
chain of command and procedure was nearly identical with what Joel describes
at Wisconsin.  An interesting twist in my case was that the Director was
heavily overloaded, and so had me write my own evaluations!  These were
reviewed by him of course, in consultation with the chair of the piano
faculty.  Then the paper work ascended the chain of command to the College
President.  His staff made all the personnel decisions, based of course on the
recommendations of everyone below him.  

In SUNY, some of the technical positions are catagorized in a sort of limbo
somewhere between faculty and the rest of the support staff.  (This has to do
with union representation mostly.  I was in the faculty union.)  As a result
of that circumstance, I was included in the faculty governance.  I took that
'responsibility' seriously - which many faculty don't - and served several
years as Faculty Secretary.  In that capacity I met with the President weekly,
attended lots of meetings, and had a great deal of communication with faculty
of 350 campus wide.  It was a fascinating experience and provided eye-opening
insights into the politics and operations of the institution.  I had embarked
on that course with the blessings of the Director (my boss).  We both thought
it might improve the 'presence' of the School of Music in the bureaucracy,
especially since SOM was historically not very involved in governance.
Whether this made any difference to SOM is debatable; I think it did, but
subtly.

    -  Tom McNeil  -
Formerly: SUNY Fredonia School of Music

In a message dated 99-03-17 16:19:31 EST, Joel Jones wrote:

<<  At Wisconsin there once was (25 years ago) an administrative assistant who
 was very helpful and a fantastic promoter for pianos and maintenance.
 About 15 years ago we lost the assistant position and our advocate.
 	Today I am ultimately  responsible to the Director who is elected
 every 5 years.  By the time a new director finds the right people and the
 sources of funding they go back to teaching.  As a result of this turnover
 I answer to every  faculty/student service request and realistically run my
 own show.
 	Raises, grievances etc. are channeled thro a personnel committee of
 faculty and staff.  I submit a long written report each year of my
 'professional activities' which the comittee considers in determining my
 salary and continuing service.
 	As Richrd West put it, my strategy has worked so far.
 Joel >>