Earlier this month, former campus services manager Phillip Johnson resigned from his supervisory role. He had worked in the department since fall 2015 but he felt that it was no longer a good fit for three reasons:
- The new sick day policy within campus services (C.S.)
- Inadequate communication with his supervisor and
- His receival of a write-up.
Campus services supervisor Torry Grady stated he was under the impression that Johnson’s resignation was for personal reasons. “The position doesn’t come without pressure. He decided to focus on himself and his studies,” he said. Grady thought it was a responsible decision, considering that C.S. is a large department and it can be difficult to keep track of the workers.
Despite Grady’s impression, Johnson’s decision to leave C.S. had little to do with the pressure. He started feeling differently about the department after there were disagreements with the new sick day policy. Johnson stated that the new policy regarding attendance was a “major blow” in their working relationship. According to Johnson, the policy did improve attendance but the amount of write-ups issued to workers was reaching levels higher than the department had seen in the past. Even though C.S. has a policy that erases write-ups at the end of each semester allowing students to have a clean slate in the new semester, he said, “If this trend continues, we are not going to have any workers.”
The lack of communication between Johnson and Grady also caused him to rethink his position. “The supervisor of C.S. does not want a student manager, or at the very least, does not know what a student manager is supposed to be,” Johnson said. He felt as though he did nothing in terms of managing his department since Grady would “step over” him and refrain from consulting him on work matters. Compounding the issue was debate over which guidelines managers were supposed to enforce. Johnson stated the write-ups he gave workers for violating policy were being repeatedly dismissed by Grady.
I think Phillip is a good person and wish him all the best in his endeavors.
Johnson said the final straw in pushing him to resignation was a write-up issued by Grady. According to Johnson, he was written up for not being in the office, although he was attending a pair of required manager meetings. Despite the assistant manager on duty being informed of Johnson’s location, Grady gave it to him anyway. Upon receival, Johnson returned to the general managers’ office to discuss his decision to leave as he felt like he did nothing wrong. When asked about possible solutions for these issues, Johnson suggested “better education involving the interactions between the managers and supervisors.”
In response to Johnson’s reasons for resignation, Grady said when he left, he did so on his own terms and did not communicate any reasons for leaving. “I think Phillip is a good person and wish him all the best in his endeavors,” he added. “Whatever reasons he had for leaving [C.S.] is his decision and I respect that.”
English major Christina Newton took over Johnson’s position as interim campus services manager. Grady noted that the transition has been smooth. The position will not be officially filled until the application process is over. Applications, due on Oct. 28, were open to the entire campus; however, there were requirements for grade point average, and students could not be on any type of probationary status. Interviews with Associate Dean of Work Rob Weis, Grady and general managers Hollie Davidson and Nate Kinnison have yet to take place.
Newton intends on applying for the managerial position and believes that she has done well despite having little guidance for her new role. She believed that the lack of instruction was the most difficult part of taking on the job. “Phillip has been difficult,” she said. “He resigned with no looking back, so I didn’t have anyone to show me the ropes or tell me what needed to be done.” Currently, Newton’s responsibilities are keeping up on time cards, transporting write-ups from Physical Plant to the Work Office, making sure her workers are at their shifts and doing paperwork. She hopes to implement more changes to the department, such as a reward system and creating closeness between the workers.