Who You Calling A Jesse?

As of today I will no longer be President of the University of Waterloo Staff Association. My last act as President was to chair the first half of the Annual General Meeting and then hand over new business to the new President. I take on the role of Past-President that involves co-chairing the Staff Relations Committee and moving to a more advisory role within the Staff Association organization. As President I have two staff that report to me and was in a leadership position. Now I have to step out of the leadership role but stay involved.

In some sense I am happy that my time is up—another kid is on the way and my sanity is getting harder to find!!! A lot was accomplished thanks to the efforts of the UWSA Executive. I can’t thank them enough for the support, the input, the feedback, and the initiatives they brought to the table. Ideas moved quickly and results are starting to show already. One last accomplishment was signing a Memorandum of Agreement between the Staff Association and the University of Waterloo. It was a necessary step that the organization had to do and the Executive made the decision to get it done without a drawn out feedback process from the membership on the basis that that it does not change the working relationship between the University and the employee only the relationship between the two organizations (UWSA and UW). That lack of process didn’t go over well with some in the membership but it was the right thing to do and I am glad we did it.

I have learned a lot about how a higher education institution functions over the past year. Far more than I learned in six years in the Communications and Public Affairs Office and certainly more than I would have an opportunity to in my current role in the IT department. It is a wonder that the organization functions at times but there is a certain value to the organizational structure that is hard not to admire. Now I am part of that structure co-chairing a committee that has oversight over many University Policies that are related to staff.

At the end of my tenure as President the UWSA seems to be getting back to business as usual. A failed union drive offered opportunity and purpose to strengthen the organization and time will tell if that was actually achieved. One remarkable thing that I have learned about the large group of staff in higher ed is that Peter Drucker needs to be required reading for all higher education workers. His management philosophies are applicable to higher education but sadly the execution of any institution wide management strategy is just isn’t there (yet). Another important thing is that some of the best people anywhere dedicate a lot of time and talent to higher education and academics, I would argue, play a lot lesser role in the ensuring higher education works then some would have you believe.