Actions on ‘Acting’ part of efforts to add predictability

“Acting, interim, provisional, temporary, pro tem, stopgap, short-term, fill-in, caretaker, transitional, makeshift, improvised, impromptu.”

“I wanted to better understand the reason for the number of people we had with ‘acting’ or ‘interim’ attached to their title; some for more than a year, some for several years,” said Cheryl Roberts, not long after assuming her role as president of Shoreline Community College in August, 2014.

“’Acting’ and ‘interim’ can be important tools to bridge gaps in staffing or to get in sync with the hiring cycle. Allowing the designation to go on too long isn’t fair to the person or healthy for our college.”

Roberts asked members of the Executive Leadership Team to review those positions filled by employees with “acting” in their title and make determinations on how to proceed. In all, seven positions were reviewed and in all cases, the person holding the position was appointed to permanent status.

On the academic side of the college, two of the more visible positions that moved to permanent status were Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs and Dean of Humanities. Bob Francis accepted an appointment to the vice president position in October. The choice adds stability to the key position that had been in flux for more than a year. For the past two years Kathie Hunt’s title had been Acting Dean of Humanities. Her permanent appointment took effect on Dec. 1.

Other employees who recently have moved from acting to permanent status, and the effective date, include:

• Jennifer Fenske, Manager of Financial Services, July 1
• Mary Kelemen, Executive  Director of Auxiliary& Logistical Support Services, Oct. 16
• Stuart Trippel, Executive Director of Business & Student Support Services , Oct. 16
• Leah Pearce, Director of Bookstore, Dec. 16
• Veronica Zura, Director of Personnel, Nov. 11

Roberts said she’s asking that “acting” and “interim” be used in a more deliberate way in the future. “We want to define those terms so that the implications and timelines are clear to all,” she said.

Executive Leadership Team members include Roberts, Francis, Vice President for Human Resources and Legal Affairs Stephen Smith, Executive Director for Business, Student Support Services and Technology Support Services Stuart Trippel, Executive Director for Auxiliary and Logistical Support Services Mary Kelemen, Executive Director for International Education Diana Sampson and Special Assistant to the President for Communications and Marketing Jim Hills.

Joining the group in January will be new Executive Director of Budget/Capital Dawn Vinberg.