Well this week has been a doozy. Some of the people here that I have most admired, and whom I have shaped my approach to academic IT after have been given layoff notices. The three that I have worked the closest with have a combined 75 years at SLU between them! If there is anyone that knows the ins/outs political dos/don’ts at SLU its them.Even weirder is all the feelings you get being left behind. I mean, if your role models aren’t good enough to be here, should you?

So that was weird. The universal problem with layoffs is always the people left behind. We never know what to think, and in general, leadership by instilling fear isn’t my MO. So that undercurrent is weird.

Even weirder for me is the implicit demotion that I’m receiving, unless I apply for another job. You see, my job is a bit of a jack of all trades: Manager, Customer Service Specialist, Project Manager, Policy Planner, Budget Guy. With the creation of a Manager that I will now be working for, and the people that work for me will be now be working for (not reporting to me), its weird to me. There is also some vagueness over which roles I would maintain as an IT Coordinator in the future. And frankly, part of the job that I really relished was being the team lead. Thats the part that challenged me, and the part I found fulfilling. That was the stuff that kept me coming into work, but its not neccessarily what I’m best at in this job. I’ve got to think this through, and quickly.

And I guess the biggest frustration to me with this whole reorg is the appearent dismissal of what the little guy has to say, and the glossing over of the details. Who knows…it will probably turn out ok, but right now, I haven’t been involved, and don’t know the details. For a guy who’s used to being a team lead…thats hard.