Greetings!
Confidentiality Agreement ………
Recently, I sent a new “confidentiality agreement” along with a brief email asking everyone to sign the
agreement and return it to our office. The intent of the document was to inform everyone of their
responsibilities when handling personal or sensitive information, and to help the university comply with
a growing array of laws and regulations.
However, many of you have expressed concerns about the ambiguity of the document and others
wondered about the “discipline” language. Several worried about doing something unintentionally that
might be inappropriate. You shared examples and illustrations of how, during legitimate work activities,
you might violate the agreement. Obviously, that was not the intent but the broadly written document
(especially the first paragraph) created all sorts of questions. It became increasingly clear that the
document created more confusion than clarity. More questions than answers. It spawned more rumors
than warts on a warthog and frogs in a pond.
I do agree that the language is ambiguous and it could be interpreted to mean things we certainly didn’t
intend. You should know that this document was vetted by many, many folks but it really wasn’t very
well written. Therefore, I am rescinding the earlier request that you sign and return the form. Any
agreements signed and submitted since April 10th will be destroyed. In the meantime, we will consider
other ways of informing our employees of their responsibilities for handling personal and sensitive
information. Perhaps an annual reminder of the importance of confidentiality and how we should
handle sensitive information – along with some definitions might be helpful. We will certainly look at
this much more carefully in the future to determine the fairest and most appropriate way to insure the
protection of confidential information.
Thanks everyone, please forgive us for creating additional anxiety in your already hectic lives. We will
try to do better in the future.
Trust, Suspicion and Conspiracy Theories …….
Over the last couple of weeks people have shared rumors that were so preposterous that I had to laugh
or moan out loud. I found myself saying, “does someone really think we would do that?” I know we are
unable to spend much time together and that breeds suspicion. I also know that the lack of respect
given to public sector employees over the last year or so really hurts – we all take that personally and it
hurts. I know that the lack of a pay plan and salary adjustments for such a long time translates that lack
of respect into reality every month. I am not naïve. But, that should not cause us to be less than
civil. Let’s do our best to avoid ad hominems, fabricating conspiracies with just a few pieces of
information, or the spreading of rumors without simply checking with the sources. We are better than
that.
Just this afternoon I was made aware of two rumors within the Colleges. One was that “we have a plan
to reduce the number of faculty and hire more IAS so we can reduce costs.” We have no such plan. I
am hurt that someone would actually think we might. We just authorized the hiring of more faculty
(thirteen as I recall) and we are trying to streamline the process so we can react much faster when we
need to hire faculty in the future. In fact, we have been working to do exactly the opposite.
I have also heard that “we plan to move to more part-time IAS” so we can reduce our costs. I was told
that this was a “crisis.” Odd, a crisis but no one talked to me about it until this afternoon. If our goal
was to move to more part-time IAS to reduce our costs then why would we be trying to create rolling
IAS contract options for Deans to use with more senior IAS should they choose to do so? Why would we
be authorizing Deans to hire IAS at full-loads (100%) where they and the department deem
appropriate?
I can assure you we have no such intentions, plans or “schemes” and I submit that our actions suggest
our “plans” are just the opposite.
Can we assume that others have good intentions before we jump to conclusions? Can you first say, “I
know Ray (or anyone else) and I don’t think he would intentionally do that, there must be something else
going on. I think I’ll email him or give him a call and find out.”
I would hope you would do that for me and for all of your colleagues. Let’s give one another the benefit
of the doubt. That’s the least we can do during this stressful time.
Strategic and Operational Plans …..
We are making progress with our “Strategic Plans”; however, we have not heard from many of
you. Please send us any comments related to the Strategic and Operational plans. We should have a
more complete draft of the Operational Plans up on the web page pretty soon (before May 5th
hopefully). The Strategic Plans are very close (we will need to reformat and re-package them) so if you
have any comments related to those plans please send them in quickly.
The Operation Plans are much more dynamic but we hope to have the initial document completed by
the second or third week in May. Of course, these plans can be added to or changed regularly so they
will be much more dynamic than the Strategic Plans.
Shadowing Opportunity …..
There are a number of things we are working on to improve the connection between the
campuses/divisions and the central office. One of the ideas suggested to me by several folks is the
opportunity to “shadow” me for a few days. Now, I have to say that doesn’t sound like something I
would enjoy – seriously, I can be very boring – I mean really boring! Watching the wind blow can be
more exciting and more educational! Nevertheless, I would enjoy the opportunity to get to know
different folks from throughout both organizations, to listen to their thoughts on issues, and to engage
them in a discussion of leadership/management matters within the organization. That could be
enjoyable for me! The poor person selected will be a part of all meetings, travel, and discussions except
confidential personnel matters.
So, I am officially offering to host a one, two, or three day shadowing experience for employees from
both organizations. We will cover lodging and travel expenses. You will need the support of your
“supervisor” or Dean. You will need to submit a brief (and I mean BRIEF) request that describes what
you hope to gain from this and why you think it might be beneficial. Also, you will be asked to write a
review of the experience which may be shared with others in the organization.
If you are interested, send in your request and let me know how many days you would like to spend
with me. Before you do, talk with your “supervisor” or Dean about it. I would like to be able to do at
least one of these a month – maybe two depending on the challenges and difficulties surrounding the
planning.
I have not done this before so we will learn together.
Chancellor’s Awards …..
Next September we will be giving several “Chancellor’s Awards” to many worthy colleagues. Would you
please nominate a colleague that you think deserves one of these awards and then join us for the
celebration next September when we honor them? (I am certain that you will write such a convincing
nomination that they will win!)
You should have received an “invitation to nominate” in the mail (or email) from me but I thought I
would take this opportunity to remind everyone.
One of my closest colleagues at Ferris received the most prestigious award given by the University. He
really deserved it. He had had a difficult year personally and I really didn’t think my nomination would
result in him actually winning the award but I filled it out anyway. Along with several other colleagues
we cheered so loudly when the decision was announced that the drapes in the old Rankin Center
actually fluttered. That much noise had not been heard in that room since it was being built in the
50’s. We didn’t care because this was our colleague and we were being honored right along with
him. We were oh so proud and he was oh so embarrassed – but hey, that made it even more fun.
So, nominate a deserving colleague and then join us when we celebrate their recognition ….. and, well
…. embarrass them with our cheers!
Thanks so much,
Ray