The current leader of our school was in a different administrative post when I arrived. He has many traits that we admire. In a profound change, he has indicated that our school will not provide data to US News & World Report so that magazine can generate report cards on teacher preparation programs. Standard #1 is Classroom Management, there is no standard for science for elementary majors, Standard #12 equates excellence in secondary teaching with content area coursework, and Standard #16 is Selectivity presses for high GPA and/or standardized test scores that will certainly preserve the lack of diversity among teacher candidates. At the very least, this is one less initiative where we would have been expected to make efforts to game the system. This is a signal that we our leadership is shifting toward increased substance and reduced self-promotion.
The major challenge our leader faces is financial. He was asked by central administration to give some money back to ease the university’s crisis. He first dipped into his discretionary accounts. But there wasn’t enough. So he started looking at faculty accounts, especially those that consisted of leftover money from projects that had ended. Normally, I would be guarded about this. But with the new leadership and the fact that the economy has had very little impact on the workplace left me feeling calm. He has decided to essentially “tax” accounts in the amount of 6%. Not a large sum and not in any way jeopardizing ongoing grants. My department chair explained this all to me and I was imagining I might have a few hundred dollars less in my travel budget. However, the tax wasn’t across all accounts. Perhaps they only went for each faculty accounts with the smallest balance. I had to kick in three dollars from my first faculty account.
When I moved, I had to be sly about extracting funds from my former university. Truth is that there was probably an above board way to transfer foundation money to my new employer. But I had an evil scheming supervisor at the time. A lovely administrative assistant helped cut the check that I could then use for tidying up the remains of a conference I had hosted in Wisconsin at Wingspread.
For some reason, that I arrived in New England with a check from my old place to my new university put my former dean into a rage. In retrospect, I believe that having unspecified funds was a potential lightning rod for audits. Perhaps there were other accounts and sources that were larger but of even more suspicious origins. Regardless, we got it settled and I was able to cover the necessary costs for my attendees. The fund was in an account for which I did not receive monthly statements. In a show of great generosity, I told our budget office that I wished to close the account and turn all those funds (around forty dollars) over to the Dean. How nice to end that account in such an optimistic and generous environment given that it began with great “Sturm und Drang” and has ended in a thaw promising renewal, warming and growth.
The major challenge our leader faces is financial. He was asked by central administration to give some money back to ease the university’s crisis. He first dipped into his discretionary accounts. But there wasn’t enough. So he started looking at faculty accounts, especially those that consisted of leftover money from projects that had ended. Normally, I would be guarded about this. But with the new leadership and the fact that the economy has had very little impact on the workplace left me feeling calm. He has decided to essentially “tax” accounts in the amount of 6%. Not a large sum and not in any way jeopardizing ongoing grants. My department chair explained this all to me and I was imagining I might have a few hundred dollars less in my travel budget. However, the tax wasn’t across all accounts. Perhaps they only went for each faculty accounts with the smallest balance. I had to kick in three dollars from my first faculty account.
When I moved, I had to be sly about extracting funds from my former university. Truth is that there was probably an above board way to transfer foundation money to my new employer. But I had an evil scheming supervisor at the time. A lovely administrative assistant helped cut the check that I could then use for tidying up the remains of a conference I had hosted in Wisconsin at Wingspread.
For some reason, that I arrived in New England with a check from my old place to my new university put my former dean into a rage. In retrospect, I believe that having unspecified funds was a potential lightning rod for audits. Perhaps there were other accounts and sources that were larger but of even more suspicious origins. Regardless, we got it settled and I was able to cover the necessary costs for my attendees. The fund was in an account for which I did not receive monthly statements. In a show of great generosity, I told our budget office that I wished to close the account and turn all those funds (around forty dollars) over to the Dean. How nice to end that account in such an optimistic and generous environment given that it began with great “Sturm und Drang” and has ended in a thaw promising renewal, warming and growth.