Staff Supervision Confrontation Documentation Termination

Why we Confront/Document/Terminate  Support Student Learning  Develop Communities Campus Residence hall Corridor Staff

Confrontation  Learning of an incident or observing the poor job performance  Time is of the essence  Praise in public - Criticize in private  Confront in appropriate setting Private Emotions diffused Comfortable for supervisor/supervisee  Ask questions  State your concern  Listen  Make a plan  Follow up.

Describe a time when you had to confront a supervisee. How did it go? What did you learn from that experience? Describe a time your supervisor confronted you. Was the confrontation effective? What did you learn from that experience?

Confrontation with Documentation  Learning of an incident or observing the poor job performance  Confront in appropriate setting  Ask questions  State your concern  Listen  Make a plan  Document  Follow up

Documentation Issues  Inconsistencies with documentation across the department.  Student Staff have not been prepared for documentation.  Consequences of not documenting poor staff performance.  What message do we want to send about documentation? Heightens significance of incident …or Career-ending, thought-it-could-never-happen-to-me event!!!  Document Success

Documentation  Follow up to a conversation – never the initial response  Addressed to the staff member  Clear and concise  End on a positive note  Carbon copies  Check your work.

Typical Documentation  Use Letterhead. Office of Residence Life 227 Warfield Hall Miami University Dear John, Sincerely, Chris Supervisor First Year Adviser Cc: Chris’ Supervisor, Coordinator of Residence Life File

Typical Documentation  Use Letterhead  State the purpose of the letter  Briefly summarize your conversation  List the behaviors. Office of Residence Life 227 Warfield Hall Miami University Dear John, Sincerely, Chris Supervisor First Year Adviser Cc: Chris’ Supervisor, Coordinator of Residence Life File

Typical Documentation  Use Letterhead  State the purpose of the letter  Briefly summarize your conversation  List the behaviors  Set expectations or explain the agreed- upon plan. Office of Residence Life 227 Warfield Hall Miami University Dear John, Sincerely, Chris Supervisor First Year Adviser Cc: Chris’ Supervisor, Coordinator of Residence Life File

Typical Documentation  Use Letterhead  State the purpose of the letter  Briefly summarize your conversation  List the behaviors  Set expectations or explain the agreed-upon plan  Explain future consequences  Ask if the letter is accurate  End on a positive note. Office of Residence Life 227 Warfield Hall Miami University Dear John, Sincerely, Chris Supervisor First Year Adviser Cc: Chris’ Supervisor, Coordinator of Residence Life File

Documentation Sample Available on the web in the Advisory Staff Manual under Staff Evaluation and Documentation section.

Describe a time when you had to document a supervisee because of an incident or job performance? How effective was the documentation? How do you predict staff will respond to a follow-up documentation of an incident or job performance? During student staff file review (this week) what do you plan to do with information you learn from past documentation of your returning student staff?

Confrontation when you think there should be a Termination  Learning of an incident or observing the poor job performance  Confront in appropriate setting  Make a plan  Consult with your direct supervisor  Supervisor recommends in writing to their Associate Director that the staff member should be terminated with the reasons why (see sample letter in Adviser Manual)  Letter from the Assoc. Dir. to the staff member informing them of the recommendation and to arrange a hearing  Hearing – present information  Assoc. Dir. informs staff member of decision in writing  Staff member may appeal in writing to the Director of ORL  Director informs staff member of his decision in writing  Grievance Procedure for each level of staff  The termination protocol is in the Student Staff Manual on the staff web pages

Termination: Just about the hardest thing a supervisor has to do  Consider the consequences of NOT terminating a staff member  “How am I supposed to learn if you just terminate me?”  There’s never a good TIME to terminate a staff member.

Other Information Regarding Confrontation/Documentation/Termination  When YOU don’t think they should be terminated  Resignation  Non-reappointment  Consultation

Case Studies in Confrontation Documentation Termination

Case 1 You hear from one resident that he/she heard that an RA was drinking with other residents. The resident is not willing to file an official complaint. How do you respond? What if the RA completely denies drinking with residents?

Case 2 An RA continually displays a negative attitude during staff meetings. For example, he/she challenges every decision that is made. He/she does not contribute to programming. He/she does not seem glad to be on staff. How do you respond? How can you enable him/her to improve his/her attitude?

Case 3 An RA missed a night of duty coverage. The RA excels in the other aspects of the job. He/she just had a very busy week of academics, activities and personal issues. How do you respond to this matter? Would your attitude change if he/she did not excel in the other areas of the job?

Case 4 A resident s you photos that were located on facebook.com entry of one of your student staff members. The photos show the SSM consuming alcohol at a bar in Oxford. You check the Face Book and the photos are no longer there. How do you respond to this matter? Assume the SSM admits to underage consumption of alcohol, but asserts it’s not a problem because it was off campus. How does this impact your response?

Case 5 An RA has great relationships with residents but does not follow through on administrative tasks and passive programming. This is the first time you have confronted him/her on the matter. How do you confront him/her? How do you react to the likely response, “Really, the most important thing is the residents, not that administrivia BS!!!!”

Case 6 An RA informs you that he/she was arrested last night for public intoxication after a party uptown. His court hearing is next week. How do you respond? What are strategies of conveying the importance of role-modeling to our staff?

Questions about Confrontation Documentation Termination