Dear Colleagues:I would like to follow up on my observations which were a prelude to the District Leadership Council meeting last Friday. [i.e., if you like your job, read on.]
I have become more and more concerned over the past few months at the lack of attendance by some administrators and managers at DLC meetings. It is essential that each management leader stay abreast of change. [Huhu. He said breast.] Now more than ever before we are faced with a highly competitive and evolving higher education market in which there is no room for complacency. [Threat fragment! Threat fragment!] The DLC meetings are the mechanism by which all college and district management leaders stay informed about current issues and events in and outside the District, and work together to develop strategies to address such challenges for the good of the students, the colleges and the District today and in years to come. [?!]
In future, if you have a conflict with scheduling, please contact me by e-mail directly requesting absence from the meeting. [May I visit the restroom? May I speak with my neighbor?]
To help avoid scheduling conflicts, below is a survey requesting you give us the three best days and times for you to attend DLC meetings. We shall collect the information and provide you with the dates for future meetings based on the preference of the majority of members. Once DLC meetings are scheduled, it is expected that you will make every effort to attend these leadership meetings regularly
First Option [When hell freezes over.]
Second Option [Or when He-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed writes a sentence sans cliché.]
Third Option [During broadcasts of American Idol.]
I cannot emphasize enough the importance of your attendance at these meetings, and hope this e-mail will provide adequate notice to you that your attendance is indeed expected and paramount. I do not wish to be forced into a position where further action is required. [I get it. Horse heads are expensive.] I need all administrators and managers to take ALL DLC meetings seriously and make every effort to attend as part of your professional duties and responsibilities.
Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions, concerns or suggestions in this regard. [Nervous trembling optional.]
Thank you.
Raghu [aka inspirational leader]
36 comments:
There's an inspirational leader for you....can't get people to show up willingly so threaten them...."show up to the meetings or be fired!" is how this comes across.
Do you think he really writes these by himself?
I think certain lines are "his" - but he probably dictates them or something.
Typical Raghu.
Call a meeting in a middle of a work day and expect 100% attendance. Sort of like how he schedules "forums" during prime-time teaching hours and complains when we don't show up - or else suggests our absence shows our lack of commitment to the institution.
This memo is your April Fool's Day prank, isn't it?
Trust me, it's real.
Ah, he learned this strategy in those online leadership courses he took! Subtle!
Goo's DLC meetings are real sleepers, so if nothing else, one can catch a few Z's at the expense of doing the work the taxpayers really expect of us. And there’s always entertainment in watching his loyal stooges who overly praise and cow-tow to his simple-minded drivel. So, we make the best of the situation, similar in concept as going to the dentist for a root canal.
Open wide!
I think this is an April Fool's Day joke.
It's no joke. Raghu sent this out yesterday.
Check out that first sentence: he's FOLLOWING UP on his OBSERVATIONS which were PRELUDE to last Friday's meeting...WTF?
When did the "prelude" begin?
Did anyone (aside from Raghu) take attendance at last Friday's meeting? How many bodies were in the room?
I can't make up my mind if this is a joke or not - or where the joke, if it is one, begins.
It's a JOKE, people.
It's not a joke. It was an actual memo sent out by Raghu very recently. Just ask an administrator or classified manager. JUST DO IT.
ah, reminds me of the old days when he used to host those MY DOOR IS ALWAYS OPEN PRESIDENTIAL BROWN BAG LUNCHES and only a couple of people would show.
Okay, so it's NOT a joke. It's our reality.
"In future..."
Jesus, I can just here him saying that aloud.
[shudder]
here=hear
[shudder]...it's rubbing off
What a guy! Give him a raise!
When IS the next DLC?
let's all go! sounds like loads of fun!
The ATEP notice came out on Monday afternoon for a Wed meeting AT 9:00 A.M. Prime teaching time or office hour time.
ATEP IS A CONCERN. To all of us for its cost implications and resource drain. At least if it does not succeed.
So we have fewer than 48 hours to cancel classes, office hours, meetings in order to get to this one. Please note this in the Accred report.
"Your lack of faith is disturbing" (insert mechanical breathing here).
Camera pan to black gloved hand as the diabolical "Finger of Blame" begins to point.
I truly hate that blood sucking little bastard. Of course, he deserves worse than a horse's head in his bed. I say we mount his head on a spike in the town square. Of course, this is after we enroll him in the "Recycle the stupid program." Heck, I'm not even a violent person, but this guy makes me cringe. Sure, I'll smile & be polite, but anyone who knows me knows what I'm actually saying is, "Get lost you insufferable prick."
wow - don't hold back, 10:34. tell us how you really feel.
I know, perhaps I put it a little bit strong in my last comment, but I just cannot see any redeeming qualities in that man. It's just that I cannot understand how this guy gets up in the morning & can actually tie his own shoes. It's the colossal amount of arrogance that oozes from him whenever he's around (probably w/in 10 miles of him). I'm not even a professor there & I can see how ridiculous these sorts of meetings are. Hey, the professors need the time to prepare for their next classes, & class time. What will he want next, a note from your parents, or spouses saying that you cannot come to his meetings. I'm a tax payer too, & I see it as a waste of our dollars to have these sorts of "Leggo my ego" meetings. IMO it's pathetic that he feels this insecure need to threaten to fire people if they do not do his bidding. What is this? When he says "Jump!" everybody has to say, "Yes sir. How high?" The last thing that anybody needs is to be treated like they are 5 years old, especially those of you who are professors, many of you who are most likely more educated than that Neanderthal who refers to himself as "Chancellor" is. Obviously I am on your side, so I'm not meaning to sound patronizing. This guy got his Ph.D from NOVA, a mail order diploma in Florida, & who is he to be telling anybody about where & when they are supposed to be. I say hey, round up a slew load of professors & boycott the stupid meeting. What's he going to do, fire about 50 teachers who have tenure?
P.S. Who knows, perhaps this is naive of me since I don't work at the SOCCCD & have to deal w/this guy every day, so I am not afraid to say anything I want w/in reason. However,it's not like I haven't been around long enough to witness his arrogant behavior & how he deals w/people, whether they be professors or members of the public. As I said, I realize that I may have come across a bit strong in that other comment, but this man has been out of control since 1996, & I do care about how the professors are treated, especially those of you who may have been great professors to me when I was there.:-)
A frontal attack on Goo is not an effective strategy. He's a rat bastard and rat bastards love head-to-head fights.
The most effective strategy in dealing with Goo is to be calm, cold, and calculating. He has chinks in his armor and knowing how to exploit these vulnerabilities is key in knowing when to attack and when to concede.
"Know your enemy.” The antagonist objective should be to keep him off balance. "If the general lacks authority, the army is disorderly" (Li Quan).
Poor attendance at DLC meetings demonstrates Goo’s inability to consistently exercise his authority. This is a simple fact and we can use this to our advantage.
This email message is Goo’s way of re-establishing his authority because he either recognizes or perceives he is losing control. But his "momentum cannot last long" (Wang Xi). Our strategy is one of endurance because eventually he will again come to us in a conciliatory manner because he wants to rest. And when that happens, the momentum has shifted and we will have authority over him.
I thought that Goo was already "imbalanced...mentally." Who knows, maybe we'll all get lucky & he'll work himself into another quadruple bipass.:-)
Is this memo related to Bob King's sudden departure? Inquiring minds want to know! Bob? Bob? Are you out there?
Just HOW BAD are these DLC meetings anyway? Enough to make the man go back to practicing law?
I don't want to have "athority" over Raghu. I don't want him to get sick.
I just want him to go away.
Treat us like 5 year olds? You mean like when he says "Good morning!" at a meeting and then if we don't say "Good morning!" back loudly or enthusiastically enough he tells us we can do better and should try again?
Raghu does not desire friendly wishes, communication (open or otherwise), or even courtesy. Interactions with Raghu are about one thing only: demonstration and reaffirmation of power.
Over 90% of the faculty, staff and administration say in an accreditation survey that they have no confidence in him, and he shows up for work unperturbed. How more clearly can he say it? We do not matter. We are not real to him.
But it is exactly this sociopathy that makes him an ideal chancellor for trustees who believe faculty are self-serving undesirables in need of a warden rather than a leader. That is what we have: a warden.
4/02 8:55 -- you are so very right. (Wanna be Chancellor?)
PS If DLC meeting attendance is really going to rise, this county will have to import not only more coffee, but also more Botox. Keep 'em smiling!
damn, I forgot that annoying "Good Morning" thing he does - did he learn that trick at Online U too?
The Accreditation committee better not find out about this memo. How will we show that we've overcome "hostility and despair" with the Chancellor sending out threatening memos?
But can they afford to ignore it? Something tells me that our sending a Chandosian WHITEWASH isn't our best strategy. The memo is one example of many of Mathur's Machiavellian style.
At IVC, we're bracing for the day, a year from now, when our college will become known as "Orange Coast College South."
Not to defend the Chancellor, but I wanted to clarify that the announcement sent the day before the ATEP meeting was actually a reminder. The original college-wide notification was sent on Monday, March 10th at 2:37 p.m.
I believe he thinks we all wait around for meetings at his beck and call. I for one work 60-70 hours a week to keep things running smoothly in my program. I think he is trying to deflect attention from the ATEP mess by telling us at these meetings that everything is fine. The SOCCCD doesn’t have a plan for ATEP and never had a plan to begin with. The downfall of the Goo will be when public outcry over the greed and wasted resources put pressure on the board to the point that they will be forced to do something.
DK
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