Editor,
In some academic departments, faculty members supervise some staff members. We will refer to these faculty members as FSS (faculty supervising staff). While FSS may go through the minimum required mandatory training such as sexual harassment and safety many do not take any organization development courses offered by Human Resources (link provided above) which teaches them useful skills to be a good supervisor.
While these FSS may excel in teaching and/or research some lack the fundamental skills needed to supervise and manage staff. They are not mandated to go through any additional training and they do not take it upon themselves to acquire further useful skills by attending additional training.
As a result, many are blissfully ignorant of how to manage including how to write performance reviews or reward outstanding performance by staff who go above and beyond their job description. There are many such staff award programs in place in UNM including the PAWS award and the Gerald W. May Outstanding Staff Award.
It just takes doing a little search on the UNM website – again, not rocket science and not too difficult a task for someone who may be an excellent teacher/researcher and has graduate degree(s) to their credit. It is time to stop blaming bureaucracy for the inaction and start taking responsibility.
Dr. Srini Vasan Ph.D.
Staff Emeritus
UNM Mathematics/Statistics
