UC Berkeley Loses Another Greek Advisor
The UC Berkeley Greek community took another blow as Kerry Fleming will be leaving her position as the Office of Student Life - Greek Advisor to take on a Dean of Students position at a smaller college closer to her home in the Midwest.
The university usually has at least two Greek Advisors working to serve the Greek community. Fleming’s replacement will be Cal’s fifth new Greek Advisor in the past three years.
It is a plus that the administration continues to recruit talent in such demand, but a major problem that staffers continued to be scalped for institutions willing to throw these individuals higher salaries. I’m not advocating the kind of corrupt behavior that has brought the UC system under such scrutiny, but I am suggesting that there must be more effective ways of retaining our staff members. Positions like the Greek Advisor do require a great deal of institutional knowledge and experience, since their responsibilities and activities are often self-defined. This type of high turnover can do nothing but continue to destroy the communication abilities of the university and the Greek community.
That sucks, she was cool.
Comment by Ed Martinez — July 20, 2006 @ 7:25 pm
Kerry did a lot of great things for the greek community, and was always more than willing to help out with the governance of our houses, while holding us accountable for our actions and inspiring the greek community. She also did a good job of holding in the van wilder-esque fantasies the ifc president had for the IFC budget (ie; golf cart purchase).
Comment by Anonymous — July 20, 2006 @ 8:49 pm
ben,
i don’t think that salaries are the main motivation for people who stay within student activities (or university positions) but switch jobs/schools. so, i’m not sure how throwing more money at the position would increase retention. if money was the only motivation i’m certain that those who are effective staffers would certainly all leave their positions for the private sector. but that’s not what’s happening here…
the loss of staffers at UCB seems to be motivated by things that are much less tangible than money.
just thought i’d put my 2cents in… by the way u seem pretty angry/frustrated in a lot of these posts… u ok?
Comment by nithya — July 21, 2006 @ 1:22 am
Nithya: my understanding is that one of those recent former Greek Advisors did move into the private sector in order to make more money, so I think having high enough pay to retain that staff is a legitimate concern.
Comment by Andy R. (CEO) — July 21, 2006 @ 11:27 am
Andy– I don’t think that Nithya’s guessing here. As a couple of crazy kids who have been fairly intimately involved with the Greek Life staff (and hell, were major parts of the search for and hiring of the current Greek Advisors), I’d say that we both have a pretty good impression that money ain’t the thang. Clearly this is a promotion for Kerry and I’m thrilled, though sad to lose her–she’ll make a fantastic Dean of Students and I’ve always enjoyed working with her–but I feel pretty confident that there are factors that contribute to turn over in those positions that are, in fact, “less tangible” than money and titles, as Nith suggests.
Comment by Punch My Ballot — July 21, 2006 @ 12:03 pm
andy-
i’d say that those who left for private sector might not have been very effective greek advisors… in fact they weren’t very good at greek advising. the ones that are good, dont stay (or leave) because of the money.
the ones who are ineffective might stay just to get a paycheck if the pay were higher, but i dont think its very good for the community or the university to be retaining ineffective staffers…
its the first concern that might pop out at us in light of executive compensation, but i think the reality is much more nuanced.
Comment by nithya — July 22, 2006 @ 1:53 am