Shake-up at Work

Our Dean called a meeting today with us to fill us in on some developments coming down the pipe for our unit. Basically, the university is moving towards a unified communications structure, which means that reporting lines are going to be changing.

Naturally, this sort of thing causes a lot of tension and apprehension. Is my job secure? Who will I be reporting to? What does this mean for what I do in my job? Thankfully, our Dean and Department Head were willing to sit down and tell us what they can tell us about what is happening, despite the hand-wringing that will ensue. I'd much prefer to hear frank and honest talk about what's going on, even if they can't tell us everything, than having to rely on rumor and speculation.

One of the things I like about working in Extension here at NMSU is that there is a culture of cooperation and service. A corollary to this, I believe, is open and honest communication. Maybe I'm being naive, but I don't feel that my job is in jeopardy. I'm good at what I do, there's more work to be done, not less, and I'm an active participant in many cross-college and cross-unit projects. So my personal apprehensions currently lie beyond my own job security.

One of the things I wonder about this change is whether this culture of service and straightforwardness will be preserved. On one hand, we have a different reporting structure, and presumably, different duties and clientele to go with it. Who knows what that will do to our workplace environment? But on the other hand, we're unifying our communications effort. Maybe we'll be able to extend our service culture beyond the borders of the College and start providing outreach services from the other colleges. Personally, I'd love to work on some outreach materials for the Math and English departments, maybe even children's shows on KRWG.

I don't know where the future is going to lead, and there are definitely going to be some down sides as I bid farewell to some of the people I've become accustomed to working with, but hopefully, there will be good things that come of this change, too. Maybe this is just a huge opportunity.