quote:
Histrionics don't advance the discussion.
Neither do most
posts.[This message has been edited by aggiepublius (edited 4/20/2013 6:05p).]
Announcement - New CIO for The Texas A&M University System [Edit on OP]
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Last: 13 yr ago by techno-ag
Neither do most
posts.[This message has been edited by aggiepublius (edited 4/20/2013 6:05p).]
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If you don't think his credentials are good enough, what did you have in mind. the CIO for a fortune 500 company would never take a 75%+ paycut to become the CIO of the TAMU system. Should they have promoted from within? Well considering the old CIO would be the person from within most qualified, I doubt it.
How about finding a CIO from a smaller university system....perhaps, but then their qualifications would probably equate to Stone's.
Knowing about academia and research, even if from a smaller University or branch campus, would be a profound improvement. These things operate in a fundamentally different way than business, even when it comes to support services like IT.
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As a fiscal conservative, I am all about reducing the size of Gov. by cutting costs.
That's a perfectly reasonable position, but don't be fooled by rhetoric. In terms of the annual state money (non-AUF) taken in by the University, it's likely not far off from breaking even or perhaps profitable for the state. In any case, literally none of any savings will be returned from the budget, if any savings are realized. That's far from certain, and it's definitely NOT going to be the result of outsourcing, if that's what comes to pass. Again, just because a career politician and suspicious accounting suggest long-term savings, I would encourage wariness.
[Stop with the personal attacks. You do more derailing of threads with this type of posting than the posters that you complain about. If this name gets banned, it will be permanent. You are out of short term bans no matter what name you use. -Staff]
[This message has been edited by TexAgs staff (edited 4/21/2013 12:45p).]
[This message has been edited by TexAgs staff (edited 4/21/2013 12:45p).]
quote:
Knowing about academia and research, even if from a smaller University or branch campus, would be a profound improvement. These things operate in a fundamentally different way than business, even when it comes to support services like IT.
Nail meets head.
Tanya. Post of the year.
Sorry you feel that way Tanya. My kid's school gets about 60 papers M-F from what I understand. That's about how many teachers they have. I freely admit I don't know how sponsorship of the NIE program works.
I do care about lost jobs but at the same time I do not agree with the entitlement mentality y'all profess on here. The university does not owe anybody a job. When one is eliminated y'all act like a grievous felony has occurred. Life is rough and jobs are eliminated all the time. Just because it's a university job does not make it special.
I do care about lost jobs but at the same time I do not agree with the entitlement mentality y'all profess on here. The university does not owe anybody a job. When one is eliminated y'all act like a grievous felony has occurred. Life is rough and jobs are eliminated all the time. Just because it's a university job does not make it special.
[That is not the way to post on the forum. -Staff]
[This message has been edited by TexAgs staff (edited 4/21/2013 12:49p).]
[This message has been edited by TexAgs staff (edited 4/21/2013 12:49p).]
Newbomb_Turk
Joined:
Nov 15, 2008
How long do you want to ignore this user?
quote:
Just because it's a university job does not make it special.
Of course not. I think the contention is that people are losing their jobs with TAMU in favor of out-of-state interests, because of decisions made for personal or political gain rather than the best welfare of the University. That's why it may well be special.
That's a reasonable argument MB though I don't agree that's the case. I'm still interested in seeing what you have on that.
quote:quote:
Just because it's a university job does not make it special.
Of course not. I think the contention is that people are losing their jobs with TAMU in favor of out-of-state interests, because of decisions made for personal or political gain rather than the best welfare of the University. That's why it may well be special.
Remember when George Costanza first met Steinbrenner? Instead of shaking his hand, he ranted about how he was devastated from watching Steinbrenner ruin his precious franchise, all for the glorification of his massive ego.
And later it was said about Steinbrenner that "he fires people like it's a bodily function!"
There are parallels here.
The university created the jobs they are now trying to eliminate and/or outsource. It's not like they had no hand in the process. These jobs are there to support the "core functions" of the university. They are important and were thought to be important - until recently. Trust Sharp, indeed.
[This message has been edited by Newbomb_Turk (edited 4/21/2013 10:03a).]
[This message has been edited by Newbomb_Turk (edited 4/21/2013 10:03a).]
Tanya, our "Trust Sharp" cheerleader has some connection either to local media or directly to the System offices.
Too many times has he posted stories from The Eagle at 2am or later when it would be time for the paper to go to print and be published on the web. He either works there or he works in some capacity that ties him or a family member to the System, a capacity that alerts him when media updates regarding System or University business are put out.
He feels his job is safe in all of this (or that of a family member) and has taken it upon himself or been ordered to spread his weak spin that all will be great and that these moves are the best thing for the greater good.
People I know at the System, the University, and a couple of the agencies are very concerned. The outsourcing of building maintenance has been a train wreck. Numerous examples of slow response times, higher costs, and work that had to be repeated two or three times for the same repair have been shared with me. Numerous. All since SSC/Compass took over.
A relative that works in information management for a large corporation and has worked all over the world in private industry and for the military came to visit awhile back.
When she asked how all of the stuff she had been reading about in the news was going, I gave her a rundown of the timelines for outsourcing Custodial, Maintenance, Dining, and Landscaping. She said that in her experience, those were functions that other places had looked at for outsourcing in private industry, but that this all seemed to happen pretty quickly.
She came to visit right after the announcement that Deloite would be assessing IT. For the entire system. When she heard it was them, she said "they would be fourth on my list of who to hire for that task. Toilet and ***** is not what they used to be." She said there was no way they could perform an accurate assessment of all member institutions and the agencies in that timeframe, based on her two decades in the industry in some very impressive companies and locations. She currently works overseas making big dollars performing some of these same functions.
Her opinion? System has already decided what they want to do and who they want to hire. The short turn-around on assessment was just to placate the masses and five the appearance that they were performing their due diligence for this task, a task for which they were paid a LOT of money. But I thought savings was the goal?
Based on the things we have heard from employees that post here, the "assessment" was a complete joke and a brief survey for the most part. The IT needs of Administration are very different from what the Vet School needs, and likewise for Genetics, Engineering, Business, etc.
Nobody here has said "I'm entitled to a job". That is just more techno-ag spin. It's that jobs are being eliminated or outsourced without an honest look at whether it is a good plan or not. And there has been no transparency. Just fluff and a few numbers thrown out here and there.
Too many times has he posted stories from The Eagle at 2am or later when it would be time for the paper to go to print and be published on the web. He either works there or he works in some capacity that ties him or a family member to the System, a capacity that alerts him when media updates regarding System or University business are put out.
He feels his job is safe in all of this (or that of a family member) and has taken it upon himself or been ordered to spread his weak spin that all will be great and that these moves are the best thing for the greater good.
People I know at the System, the University, and a couple of the agencies are very concerned. The outsourcing of building maintenance has been a train wreck. Numerous examples of slow response times, higher costs, and work that had to be repeated two or three times for the same repair have been shared with me. Numerous. All since SSC/Compass took over.
A relative that works in information management for a large corporation and has worked all over the world in private industry and for the military came to visit awhile back.
When she asked how all of the stuff she had been reading about in the news was going, I gave her a rundown of the timelines for outsourcing Custodial, Maintenance, Dining, and Landscaping. She said that in her experience, those were functions that other places had looked at for outsourcing in private industry, but that this all seemed to happen pretty quickly.
She came to visit right after the announcement that Deloite would be assessing IT. For the entire system. When she heard it was them, she said "they would be fourth on my list of who to hire for that task. Toilet and ***** is not what they used to be." She said there was no way they could perform an accurate assessment of all member institutions and the agencies in that timeframe, based on her two decades in the industry in some very impressive companies and locations. She currently works overseas making big dollars performing some of these same functions.
Her opinion? System has already decided what they want to do and who they want to hire. The short turn-around on assessment was just to placate the masses and five the appearance that they were performing their due diligence for this task, a task for which they were paid a LOT of money. But I thought savings was the goal?
Based on the things we have heard from employees that post here, the "assessment" was a complete joke and a brief survey for the most part. The IT needs of Administration are very different from what the Vet School needs, and likewise for Genetics, Engineering, Business, etc.
Nobody here has said "I'm entitled to a job". That is just more techno-ag spin. It's that jobs are being eliminated or outsourced without an honest look at whether it is a good plan or not. And there has been no transparency. Just fluff and a few numbers thrown out here and there.
Wow, DM, thanks for the thorough run down.
Here's a small anecdote to supplement what you've said, and is consistent with your more thorough analysis:
The people that I know best at the university will see their in it's IT people removed from their unit, and centralized higher up for cost savings, and (get this!) to allow those IT people the opportunity to utilize their skills in multiple locations. (Imagine writing that memo with a straight face.)
When the people that I know asked about how troubleshooting would work on a moment's notice with no IT personnel in the building, they were "reassured" that there would be a geek-squad-like system to send people out to take care of problems.
And of course, for someone teaching a class at 8 or 9 am, and something goes awry with the podium computer, or the projector, or the smartboard, instead of having a 3-minute delay with a lecture because they could walk to the in-house IT people, they'll call a geek squad operation. Will that adversely affect the core functions of teaching and research?
You make up your own mind. My friends are convinced that it will. Yep, maybe some dollars will be saved. Maybe. But it will make the place worse.
Here's a small anecdote to supplement what you've said, and is consistent with your more thorough analysis:
The people that I know best at the university will see their in it's IT people removed from their unit, and centralized higher up for cost savings, and (get this!) to allow those IT people the opportunity to utilize their skills in multiple locations. (Imagine writing that memo with a straight face.)
When the people that I know asked about how troubleshooting would work on a moment's notice with no IT personnel in the building, they were "reassured" that there would be a geek-squad-like system to send people out to take care of problems.
And of course, for someone teaching a class at 8 or 9 am, and something goes awry with the podium computer, or the projector, or the smartboard, instead of having a 3-minute delay with a lecture because they could walk to the in-house IT people, they'll call a geek squad operation. Will that adversely affect the core functions of teaching and research?
You make up your own mind. My friends are convinced that it will. Yep, maybe some dollars will be saved. Maybe. But it will make the place worse.
For what it's worth, Tradishun, I think significant centralization would realize fairly immediate cost savings (for re-investment, of course *grin*) and, if done properly and with thoughtful organization, would not result in lower quality service.
There's no reason, for example, centrally-reporting support staff would need to be officed in the same building. If you asked me to plan such a thing, I'd be sure there was support staff located in proximity to the appropriate places. Generalists near admin staff and faculty offices, a specialist in the places it's most appropriate. The benefit to such an arrangement is that it would allow people to share skillsets more freely, help each other with overflow, and contribute resources for cross-departmental projects. Not a lot of that happens right now, unfortunately.
There are something like 50 Microsoft Exchange email domains on campus right now. There's definitely an economy of scale that could be leveraged, but I doubt it's logistics that's preventing that from happening right now.
There's no reason, for example, centrally-reporting support staff would need to be officed in the same building. If you asked me to plan such a thing, I'd be sure there was support staff located in proximity to the appropriate places. Generalists near admin staff and faculty offices, a specialist in the places it's most appropriate. The benefit to such an arrangement is that it would allow people to share skillsets more freely, help each other with overflow, and contribute resources for cross-departmental projects. Not a lot of that happens right now, unfortunately.
There are something like 50 Microsoft Exchange email domains on campus right now. There's definitely an economy of scale that could be leveraged, but I doubt it's logistics that's preventing that from happening right now.
Ok, marginal_boy, DM, Tradishun, and Newbomb are making much better posts than I would, I just need to reiterate something.
Our problem is the method. I have been saying for years that there are HUGE inefficiencies in campus IT. Everyone running their own authentication systems. Everyone running their own mail. No one can talk or share easily over the network. It's frankly a mess.
I absolutely think that outsourcing is NOT the answer. Not yet. We have not been given the chance to make changes. We have not exhausted other avenues to make things more efficient. We have not even been given the leverage in the form of a mandate from leadership to go to the various departments and colleges to start negotiating changes.
Why? Why are we jumping strait to outsourcing. I admit that has not been formally decided yet, but with the outsourcing already done and the hires being made... I think it's naive to think its not coming.
Give us a freakin chance. I'm just seriously skeptical of the motives here. And when it affects my job, family, and community, you are darn right I'm going to question it. Call it "NIMBY" or whatever you want, IDGAF. This is a university, not a corporation.
And one more thing. I don't think my job is sacred, but if we are going to be treated the same as corporate IT, then I want to be paid the same as corporate IT.
Our problem is the method. I have been saying for years that there are HUGE inefficiencies in campus IT. Everyone running their own authentication systems. Everyone running their own mail. No one can talk or share easily over the network. It's frankly a mess.
I absolutely think that outsourcing is NOT the answer. Not yet. We have not been given the chance to make changes. We have not exhausted other avenues to make things more efficient. We have not even been given the leverage in the form of a mandate from leadership to go to the various departments and colleges to start negotiating changes.
Why? Why are we jumping strait to outsourcing. I admit that has not been formally decided yet, but with the outsourcing already done and the hires being made... I think it's naive to think its not coming.
Give us a freakin chance. I'm just seriously skeptical of the motives here. And when it affects my job, family, and community, you are darn right I'm going to question it. Call it "NIMBY" or whatever you want, IDGAF. This is a university, not a corporation.
And one more thing. I don't think my job is sacred, but if we are going to be treated the same as corporate IT, then I want to be paid the same as corporate IT.
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Why? Why are we jumping strait to outsourcing.
Because, among other reasons, a lack of TRUST in the present IT staff on the part of the higher-ups. Sadly, the people most qualified to identify what changes need to be made were are the ones who aren't being given much, or any input into this.
Another reason of course, embarrassingly for such a great university, is the cronyism that has been discussed in other threads pertaining to this issue. Simply put, someone (or some entity) stands to make money (a lot) off the outsourcing venture, and it is not the IT staff.
[This message has been edited by FlyRod (edited 4/21/2013 10:49a).]
Exactly. I want to know who has friends at Compass. I guarantee there are people trading favors here and it's at the expense of jobs and State funds.
Or ... maybe Compass offered the best proposal and there is no grand conspiracy.
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Or ... maybe Compass offered the best proposal and there is no grand conspiracy.
A politician is calling all the shots.
Try again.
And should that politician head back into politics full time and become out governor, he will repay the favor to his former classmate and make HIM the Chancellor of the System at $500k per year.
You saw Perry's leaked transcript. He would have as much business running an educational system as......oh wait, he already sort of does that.
Where does Texas rank in terms of public schools? Just ahead of Mississippi and Arkansas, is it?
Public schools or public universities?