Job Discussion Forums

[Old Melody]

Right now HCT has multiple layers of managers. Are they a waste of money which should be spent on education? Are they about as useful as hospital managers (compared to doctors and nurses)?

First, there are Senior Directors (usually very elderly gentlemen well past their sell-by date).

Then you have your common or garden variety college director. He (it is nearly always a HE, HCT is really bad at employing women in truly senior positions despite having a huge female student population) -- he is usually quite elderly, has little or no recent classroom experience in recent decades, has little or no educational vision, and must have a Ph.D. Fair enough. It�s well worth doing a search on them to find out how much they have published in the name of educational leadership though.

Then, you have the really puzzling group-- the Associate Directors. These usually have no better qualifications than most of the teachers they supervise -- a Masters in something or other. However, like the infamous claw, they come with an attitude instead, a naked ambition to ensure that the organization serves them well. If you got rid of the lot of them, would anybody notice? Would students notice?

Then, you have Deans. That�s to make HCT sound more academic.

Then, you have Chairs -- used to be called supervisors. Chairs sounds more academic.

Then, you have Coordinators. Hard to say what they coordinate, although some of them may end up doing the work of clever chairs and Deans who are good are delegating.

Then, you have lead teachers -- hard to say who or what they lead, very often.

Finally, you get to the teacher. All the others are peripheral really. They contribute next to nothing to the quality of the student�s experience on a daily basis.

Remember that university in RAK that cleared out all its useless managment layers a few months ago? Has HCT thought of doing the same? Surely the money could be spent on students, and teaching, and education?

Oh, one might almost forget: the Provost.
http://www.dailynews.com/search/ci_12970312?source=email

http://diverseeducation.com/article/6398/

http://mayorsam.blogspot.com/2009/07/tina-park-swearing-in-ceremony.html

Oh, yea, and the vice-chancellor...

I guess Old Melody is in a bad mood at the start of semester, contemplating the vast waste.

[veiledsentiments]

My biggest beef with HCT when I was with them in the early 90s was the expensive layers of redundant management whose only duties seemed to be have meetings, talk, drive around the country, talk more, and have more meetings... the results of which were always to make the teachers' jobs more onerous... usually by creating powerless committees to talk, drive around the country and have meetings.

But, it appears that the many layers management have grown like a virus... a plague virus. It is obvious that if there truly are budgetary problems, a cut of 60-70% of the management would be the most sensible way to lower payroll costs without affecting the students ("our customers") in any way.

VS

[Never Ceased To Be Amazed]

[veiledsentiments]

Yes... it was "customer" in my day - the fad of the moment was TQM... but "stakeholder" is the latest buzzword. Education is obsessed with buzzwords.

Even if you keep making the same management errors over and over, if you change the buzzwords, it then seems SO much better.

VS

[nowasta]

In the general educational academic lingo the term 'stakeholders' can refer to students, but it has also been generalized and expanded to include parents and anyone else from the genral public that have a vested interest in education. Aditionally, many theorists actually distinguish between gov't officials, academics, administrators, teachers, students, and other stakeholders.

Semantics.

[MrScaramanga]

To answer your question, in one word, YES!
And you forgot the useless consultants, hahaha!
MrS

[Never Ceased To Be Amazed]

[veiledsentiments]

[johnslat]

Huh - I always thought it was the guy or gal who held the stake for the vampire killer.

Regards,
John

[Never Ceased To Be Amazed]

"Buffy the Vampire-killer"...always a per peeve of mine...

NCTBA

[nowasta]

I always thought it was the dude that brought your meat to you at Ruths Chris?

In all serious though, what is truly 'at stake' here is the kiddies education!

[Never Ceased To Be Amazed]

O.K., we have finally reached the circular argument...

It's all about the kids, but when grades or behaviour doesn't have any effect on "success"...it's no longer about the "kiddies'', it's all about making YOU look better so you can sign on that dotted line jes' one more time or screw over someone else before you can get screwed over...

NCTBA

[nowasta]