Guest Blog from Jane Davis - Presidential Search

First I would like to thank Mary Jinks and the University administration for the opportunity I have been given to serve on the Presidential Search Advisory Council as a representative of the Institute for Public Service and the University’s non-exempt staff. It is my hope that I represent both groups well.

The Presidential Search Advisory Council is made up of faculty, staff and students from UT campuses and institutes across the state. The role of the council is to review information from all of the candidates and make recommendations to the Search Committee, who will in turn make recommendations to the UT Board of Trustees.

This week was the first meeting of both the Search Committee and the Advisory Council. This meeting was webcast as will all the meetings during this process. If you are interested in viewing, the meeting and others will be posted on the Presidential Search Web site. The site is very user friendly and has a lot of information available, I encourage you to take a look at it. The web address is: http://president.tennessee.edu/search/index.html. The timeline associated with this search is very aggressive. The plan is to have the search completed and ready to select a president by the Board of Trustees’ meeting on October 22, 2010.

Most employees have heard comments during their time at UT that refer to our PDQ (position data questionnaire) and whether or not that is part of an individual’s responsibilities. Well, let me tell you that even the president’s job specification document states that he or she also will “perform other duties as assigned by the board.”

If you have comments or suggestions, I would love to hear them. The Web page also has a link to “UTALK” for your input and suggestions. There also is a link for those interested in applying as well as nominating individuals. I think this will be a challenging few months for both the committee and the council and I look forward to representing all our interests.

UT Board Meeting Update

The UT Board of Trustees met last week. There was a long agenda, but I thought you might be interested in those items that directly affect IPS.

First, the board approved the FY2011 budget. It will need to be revised because what we anticipated would be approved by the general assembly changed somewhat. Specifically, the discussion of a 3% bonus pay ultimately became a $50 per year of service longevity pay that is dependent on revenue improving before it will be paid out. The campuses also must adjust for their fee increases, but the IPS budget is basically set. More on the budget in a separate post.

The board also voted to proceed with the presidential search. This impacts IPS in that I report directly to the president. In a separate, but related, action the board approved the new UT System Organizational Chart. This is also good news for IPS since we have our own box for the first time.



Sharon Rollins continues to represent IPS on the Research, Outreach and Economic Development Committee of the board. Overall, the board meeting was very successful.

IPS Leadership Academy - First Class

I’m pleased to announce the 18 members of the inaugural class of the IPS Leadership Academy. We received close to 40 nominations for the first session of the academy, and selected these employees following discussions with each agency director. Please join me in congratulating the employees listed below for their selection to the first IPS Leadership Academy.


Wendy Eddy, CIS
Macel Ely, Naifeh Center
Scott Gordy, Central Office
Mandy Johnson, LEIC
Josh Jones, MTAS
Erin Ketelle, CTAS
Terri Kinloch, CTAS
Nathan Lefebvre, LEIC
Libby McCroskey, CTAS
Margaret Norris, MTAS
Gary Petree, MTAS
Melanie Purcell, MTAS
Dwaine Raper, CIS
Lynn Reed, CIS
Robin Roberts, CTAS
Susan Robertson, Central Office
Marty Spears, CTAS
Andre Temple, CIS

Final thoughts on Change is Good

Inspire stories, say Anderson and Feltenstein! We have great stories that are a part of our rich history. Go you share your stories? Are you helping to create new stories?

Follow your convictions, they argue. Don't focus on what was, but what could be and then make that happen. When you know something is right, follow your convictions.

Stand with them, not above them is their advice. To get people to follow you through the unpredictable twists and turns, you must not only sell your vision, you must show that you care. Humility is a powerful trait.

Pull the weeds sounds like odd advice, but Anderson and Feltenstien note that some people will choose to work for the team and embrace our culture. Others will not. A "weed" makes its own rules, undermining camaraderie and consensus. In the long run, they argue, if a leader keeps to the path of least resistance and lets weeds grow, they will risk losing credibility with those who make the team flourish. Do you know a weed?

Final thought on change from Anderson and Feltenstein - reinforce, reinforce, reinforce. We must hear a message many times for it to "stick." We must continually visit our vision and goals. Tuli Kupferburg said, When patterns are broken, new worlds emerge." Are you ready?

Presidential Search

The UT Board of Trustees has launched the search for a new president! There is a Search Committee and a Search Advisory Council. The Board will officially appoint the Search Advisory Council at its June 24 meeting. Jane Davis will be named as the IPS representative on the Search Advisory Council.

The first Search Advisory Council meeting is scheduled June 28. Nominations and applications for president will be received throughout the summer. We anticipate the candidates will be in Knoxville for interviews October 12 - 14 and that the search committee will make a recommendation to the Board of Trustees on October 20.

I will keep you updated on the process as we move toward a new president of the University of Tennessee System.

More on Change is Good

Inspire personal accountability, is another notion from Anderson and Feltenstein. They argue something magical happens when we accept personal responsibility for our behavior and our results. This means recognizing problems as opportunities. Do you face opportunities?

They say celebrate success! We don't do this nearly enough. Michael LeBoeuf says, "the greatest management principle in the world is 'the things that get rewarded and appreciated get done.'" Do we reward and appreciate the right things? If not, what should we do?

Anderson and Feltenstein say fostering teamwork is critical in times of change and the key element in teamwork is trust. Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. Are you working with your team?

They also argue that change takes time to root and mistakes will happen along the way. We must have patience and be supportive in order to enjoy the rewards. Are you?

Another step in the change process is to measure results. We collect a lot of data! What gets measured gets improved, says Peter Drucker. Are we measuring the right things?

Set the stage for innovation says Anderson and Feltenstein. Collect a lot of ideas along the way. We must have a climate that rewards risk and creative effort. Innovation requires a system, a culture, leadership and an allocation of resources. Do we have these as priorities?

More to come...

Family Medical Leave

Family Leave is a broadly misunderstood concept.

FML is strictly for the benefit of the employee and we intend to treat all employees equally. When an employee is off from work for more than three days related to the same sickness, regardless if those three days are consecutive, we require the supervisor to (1) notify the employee that we are recommending them for FML and (2) notify Judie Martin so that she can notify the HR office that we are processing paperwork for them to determine if an employee is eligible for FML. This takes IPS supervisors out of the position of determining whether an employee is eligible for FML. It is a complicated subject and best left to the HR professionals.

Once an employee is determined eligible for FML, a separate record is kept of the time off from work. This is in addition to the normal time sheet. An employee can be on paid leave and family medical leave at the same time. If an employee does not have sufficient paid leave to cover the necessary time off from work, the employee is on unpaid leave and family medical leave. As long as an employee is on FML, his/her position and benefits are protected. Please refer to the HR policy on FML or contact Judie Martin if you have specific questions.

Click here to read the policy.

More on Change is Good

Anderson and Feltenstein say we must remove remove barriers. We must remove outdated systems, outdated procedures, and/or outdated people. It is easy to continue doing things because we always have rather than to take the time to question why. Of course we must follow state law and university polices and procedures, but even those are subject to change when a good case can be made. When was the last time you asked why?

They also suggest we should simplify our message. That means encapsulating complex ideas and presenting them in concise, compelling fashion. Charles Mingus says, "Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple -- that's creativity." Are you being creative?

Anderson and Feltenstein say lead with speed! Inertia, if you don't act quickly, will stop you in your tracks, they say. We get comfortable with the way things are and don't get motivated to change them after a while. Speed helps identify short term wins. Darrel Royal says, "Luck follows speed." How quickly do you change?

They also suggest that we should let our customers call the shots. As I stated in an earlier blog, we pride ourselves on customer service. Do we really listen or, because we've been at this business for so long, do we assume we know what they want and need?

Let your actions speak, say Anderson and Feltenstein. You can't teach culture. You have to live it. You have to experience it. You have to share it. You have to show it. Does our culture reflect our focus on customer service?

More to come....

IPS Leadership Academy - Application Deadline Approaching

The IPS Leadership Academy is an exciting opportunity for IPS employees to learn and grow as leaders.

Goals of the IPS Leadership Academy:

*To provide quality formal and informal training, mentoring, and coaching.
*To expand leadership capacity within the IPS organization.
*To promote sustainability of IPS and the goals of the organization.
*To promote succession planning for IPS.
*To create energy and vision for the future.
*To understand the culture and structure of the University of Tennessee system.

The inaugural class of the IPS Leadership Academy will have orientation in July and its first session in September. At the end of the academy, participants will know more about IPS and the UT system than any other employees at the university!

Deadline for nominations is June 11 and the inaugural class will be announced on June 25. I hope you will look over the application and consider submitting a nomination for the first class of the IPS Leadership Academy.

Click here for more information.

Guest Blog from Mike Tallent

Mike began his new role as Assistant Vice President on March 15. I asked him to reflect on his experience.

First 60 Days

I have been asked to take a minute and share with you my impressions and reflections on the first 60 days as an Assistant Vice President for the Institute for Public Service. Let me begin by thanking Dr. Mary Jinks for the opportunity to serve as Assistant Vice President for the Institute for Public Service, and to the leadership and staff of the Center for Industrial Services (CIS), the Law Enforcement Innovation Center (LEIC), the Naifeh Center and the IPS Central Office for the warm welcome I have received and for their assistance in helping me acclimate to my new environment. I especially want to thank Don Green, Paul Jennings and Tom Kohntopp for their assistance and cooperation. They especially have made this transition very smooth and productive for me.

This opportunity was created by the untimely death of our former AVP Karen Holt and while I am working with a different set of agencies, I hope my work and efforts reflect positively on the standards she established.

Although, I have been a part of the Institute for 30 years, that time was with the Municipal Technical Advisory Service (MTAS) and my familiarity with CIS, LEIC and the Naifeh Center has been limited at best. There is an old saying regarding a fast learning curve, that it is like, “drinking from a fire hose”. That is a good way to describe my first sixty days, because I arrived in the middle of budget preparation for three agencies, including budget hearings for all agencies, strategic planning for the Naifeh Center and four other inter-agency strategic planning teams and numerous existing and potential grant pursuits.

At the end of my first 60 days, I am pleased to say that the budget process is close to being completed and I am far more conversant on the agency budgets of CIS, LEIC, the Naifeh Center and IPS than I was. Does that mean I have the answer to any financial worries looming on the horizon? No, but I am in a much better position to have a positive impact on generating a solution to those concerns.

At the end of 60 days, we have completed the strategic plans for the Naifeh Center, the Environmental/Energy Strategic Planning Team and hopefully the Public Safety/Worker Safety Strategic Planning Team. We are still working on the strategic plans for the Leadership/Executive Development Strategic Planning Team and the Resource Generation Strategic Planning Team. These completed plans cover a five- year span and in each case are very aggressive in the goals and objectives they have established. Each of these teams is comprised of staff from multiple agencies, and I want to thank and applaud these staff members for their vision and efforts and their commitment for improving their respective subject area for IPS and for the customers of their respective agencies and the Institute.

Overall, these plans represent what I hope to achieve as AVP and that is creating a work environment in which agencies and staff want and see the benefit of working together on issues and projects and thereby utilizing the multiple skills, ideas, innovations within the Institute to deliver the best and most innovative solutions and services to their respective customers efficiently and effectively. For me it is critically important that we be good stewards of the taxpayer’s dollar and that the services and advice that we provide make a difference in the performance and success of our customers.

In closing, I again want to thank Dr. Jinks for the opportunity and I look forward to the challenges and fun this new position will provide.

Guest Blog from Don Darden

Don Darden is retiring from UT/IPS/MTAS and his last day of work is June 18. I asked him to provide a blog post. I think you will enjoy hearing his perspective!

We have all heard the old adage that it is better to teach a man to fish than to buy a man a fish. Teaching helps the recipient of training and others for a lifetime. IPS embodies this spirit in immeasurable ways and truly benefits many Tennesseans because of its efforts. It has been a great pleasure for me to work for an organization that is genuinely committed to training, technical assistance, research, special studies, and other forms of service that truly touch the lives of so many people. The University of Tennessee’s Institute for Public Service, and its agencies, CTAS, MTAS, CIS, and LEIC are truly unique in this State and in our country.

A great deal of my work has been in smaller cities that have limited administrative capability, and it has always amazed me that when any one of the IPS agency consultants walk in the door at city hall, in a manufacturing facility, or a police agency, they are viewed with great respect, because our clients recognize the credibility that they bring. It is imperative that IPS continue to provide first class consultants with hands on experience in their area of management or expertise to continue a first class level of technical assistance for its clients.

My greatest reward has been to be a part of a team of consultants who are committed to improving the lives of Tennesseans that they serve. Last week I facilitated an Elected Officials Academy in the small Town of Spencer, and one of the aldermen commented in her evaluation that the consultant is very knowledgeable, and the session was right on target. IPS and its agencies are truly “right on target”, and I am confident that the leadership of the University of Tennessee will ensure that the agency’s mission will remain “right on target.”

Don Darden
don.darden@tennessee.edu