Nick Kremer, Facilitator NCWE Consultant Finding Your Way Through the Maze: Navigating Organizational Structures Nick Kremer, Facilitator NCWE Consultant

Why Spend Time on This? May have only worked in one college and it is good to know the variations Can help you understand your own organization better Useful in considering future positions at other colleges

A Typology Single college –local governing board Single college with outlying centers Multi-college district –more than one college under a board of trustees A sub-unit of a four year institution A statewide system—several colleges, a statewide board

The Good and the Bad Which type is closest to your setting? What’s good about it? What’s not so good?

Internal Organization Typical all units are grouped (think VPs) Instructional Student Services Fiscal/operations Human Resources/Personnel Foundation Workforce Education and Training? Occasionally other

What Does Your College’s Org Charge Look Like?

Important Players Operational offices Administrative staff above you fiscal, HR, maintenance, foundation Administrative staff above you Faculty Unions Academic Senate Curriculum Committee Board of trustees

Never Forget….. It is a political organization Collaboration but….. Budget, space, faculty positions, staffing are all “fighting words” Collaboration but…..

Never Forget….. Buried somewhere in all of this is the goal of student success Important that you are able to distinguish between what’s on paper and how it really works (organizational culture)

Workforce Education Models There are numerous models of how and where workforce education resides in the organization and how it is structured CTE Programs are Integrated most divisions have a related department of two CTE Programs are Separated departments are concentrated in one or two divisions

Workforce Education Models VP of Instruction/Academic Affairs and a VP of Workforce reporting directly to the president Provost with a VP or AVP of Academic Affairs and a VP or AVP of Workforce Education VP of Instruction with AVP of Workforce

Workforce Education Models Where is non-credit instruction located? Does the college do noncredit workforce programs and certifications? How does contract training relate to the rest of the institution?

Discussion Where do you fit in? What do you like about where you fit in the organization? What don’t you like?

A Personal Organizational Chart for Success All the boxes are important but…. Keys to your success are …… Supervisor Fiscal Office Human Relations

Mission: Make Friends With These Offices Fiscal Human Resources Operations/maintenance Grants Foundation Strategy for success—ask how you can best work with them

Being Successful in the Organization Do your job well (obvious but…) On time –reports, meetings, evaluations Own your mistakes Choose your battles Do you really want to die on that hill today? Lose gracefully

Being Successful in the Organization Understand and respect the perspective of the decision-makers above you They have more information than you do and make decisions based on that information Use data Communicate, communicate, communicate

Being An Effective Workforce Advocate Study and prepare Educate Anticipate objections Be strategic Know how far you want to push Be persistent

Getting Somewhere Toot your own horn (softly) Volunteer for committees and workgroups—particularly outside your unit Get on a workgroup with someone you really respect in order to learn from them

Indicators That You Are Being Successful You are asked to take on more duties (usually without pay) You are asked to be on important interdepartmental committees Few questions about your paperwork (invoices, timecards, HR forms) You are sent to leadership training!