drgrabow
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« on: September 08, 2011, 10:17:28 PM » |
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I've been Dean of Students at a mid-sized public university for nearly four years. My boss is a VP of Student Affairs who sees himself primarily as the university presidents' chief of staff. He does not manage any of his employees. Many of his reports are purposefully un-collaborative. I ask them to serve on committees or initiatives and they don't even reply or openly say they don't want to, so they won't. Deadlines for initiatives I am coordinating for the VP pass and he expresses frustration with me that he has to be involved in asking them to complete the assignment. He acts like their lack of participation is due to a deficiency in me. People treat their employees terribly. He does nothing to intervene. I am treated like a department head rather than a division head. He asks me for minute details of projects that are three layers down from me. When I work on macro-level projects that involve other areas, I am told that I should "stay in my area." That criticism in particular drives me crazy. The issues that face our university cannot be solved without collaboration. I must say that in the time that I've been there, I've accomplished a lot. I think my boss is generally very happy with my performance. I've also managed to help him see my vision from time to time. But I feel that it's time for a serious discussion about how unhappy I am in my position. It may mean that it's time to go. Any thoughts?
Oh, and one more thing...I've never had any sort of performance review. HR requires them. He has me write them and then does not even meet with me about them. This is my first Dean role. He tells me that if I was doing something wrong, he'd let me know.
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madhatter
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Just killing time
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« Reply #1 on: September 08, 2011, 10:49:53 PM » |
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It sounds like you have three strategies to consider.
1) Change him. (Not very likely, but it could happen.)
2) Outlast him. (Is retirement looming? Think he might jump ship for a job elsewhere?)
3) Get out. (Polish up your cv and hit the market.)
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"I may be an evil scientist, but it doesn't take a degree purchased from the Internet with your ex-wife's money to know how special and important you are to me." -- Dr. Doofenschmirtz
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brixton
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« Reply #2 on: September 11, 2011, 10:21:39 AM » |
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Some schools are very collaborative. Others aren't. Some schools are organized with a very strong top-down system. Others are old-boys clubs where the chiefs sit and schmooze, while the worker bees try to guess at what direction the college is moving in. Some have strong leadership. Others drift in amorphous directions. If you're not feeling in sync with your boss, you probably should think about moving. I think meetings with bosses to talk about how they're not doing what you want them to do are futile. They've been like this a lot longer than your 4 year acquaintance. Your boss may be like that because that is what your president wants. If the boss moves on or retires, the president will still probably want someone like your boss than like you. So I think madhatter offers good advice, although I wouldn't spend too much time on 1 or 2 unless there is a major leadership change on the horizon. I might add an option 4: Keep doing what you're doing, keep track of your successful initiatives, build whatever relationships you can when you go to conferences, and of course always be on the market.... which is actually good advice for any administrator whether she's happy or not.
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dale1
Eventually, if you hang around long enough, they'll make you a
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Posts: 405
My mother-in-law would point out God's gray hairs.
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« Reply #3 on: September 11, 2011, 07:52:13 PM » |
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I think it's time to move on. There are plenty of these opportunities for those that can be mobile.
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Dale (original)
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sibyl
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« Reply #4 on: September 13, 2011, 02:47:55 PM » |
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Agree. Especially since there isn't anything in your performance review that would allow anyone to say anything bad about you.
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"I do not pretend to set people right, but I do see that they are often wrong." -- Jane Austen, Mansfield Park
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drgrabow
New member
Posts: 49
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« Reply #5 on: September 16, 2011, 01:53:07 PM » |
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Several of you hit the nail on the head. First of all, my VP is relatively young. Many think that he is being groomed for the presidency. He is absolutely doing as he was trained by our president. I am one of the very few people in leadership roles at this institution that did not graduate from here. I think that makes me a permanent outsider. Our president will very likely retire in the next five years. That will leave me with a choice. They don't seem to be grooming me to be VP, but then again - they don't seem to be grooming anyone else either. It's more likely that a new VP will come from another public institution in our state. When that happens, I'll probably need to go.
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dale1
Eventually, if you hang around long enough, they'll make you a
Senior member
Posts: 405
My mother-in-law would point out God's gray hairs.
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« Reply #6 on: September 17, 2011, 06:39:01 PM » |
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Well, good luck to you, drgrabow. Looks like you've been able to identify the terrain ahead, now it's time to pick a path you are comfortable with. Polish up the resume and maybe some of us will see you at NASPA or ACPA.
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Dale (original)
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