PR layoffs result in controversy

Three university employees are now out of a job after what officials are calling a restructuring of Public Relations and Marketing.
Linda Norlock, publications director; Carol McGinnis, assistant director of publications and electronic communications; and Tracy Backs, marketing and advertising director, were told Tuesday that their positions were being eliminated as part of a departmental restructuring process, said Associate Vice President for Public Relations and Marketing Bill Jenkins.
The reason
Jenkins said when he joined the office in January, he began the restructuring process by focusing on one area at a time.
“There are two basic areas within the department,” he said. “There’s media relations, and we created an executive director of Public Relations position, which is now filled by Mike Silverthorn.
“The other side is the publication and marketing side, and we’ve created an executive director of publications and marketing.
“As a result of that, the director of publications and director of marketing jobs have been eliminated,” he said.
McGinnis’s job, which includes overseeing the CMU Web site, was also affected, but not for the same reason. Jenkins said similar work on the Web site was being performed by Information of Technology, so the need for the position in Public Relations was small.
“As it turns out, what we’re doing here and what they’re doing there was being duplicated by the Office of Information Technology,” he said.
As a result, OIT will be responsible for the Web site, but PR will still remain connected to the site.
“One of our functions here is the image and identity of the university. We will still have an oversight responsibility of the Web site. We won’t be developing any programs or making changes to the Web site, but we will approve any design changes,” Jenkins said.
Those affected
However, the process of eliminating someone’s position is never easy. Jenkins said the three women will remain on staff for the next 45 days, which will allow them to make a gradual transition out of the department.
“Because these jobs have been eliminated, the folks that were affected will continue to work for 45 days. As we reach the end of that period, we will have others take on their responsibilities,” Jenkins said.
Carol McGinnis
“I was totally blind-sided by it.”
McGinnis said she’s upset with the process because it eliminates her position’s function.
“I dealt with the words and content of the Web site. I was told the functions of my job would be picked up by the Information Technology area, but I’m not convinced that they can offer the skills that I could.”
McGinnis said she feels she is being punished for taking the initiative to improve the Web site.
“In December 1994, Computer Services installed the first version of the Web sites. At that time, Computer Services thought this was a Public Relations and Marketing tool.
“From December of 1994 until November of 1997, I was essentially working two jobs. I was managing the content of the Web site, then the job I was originally hired for, which was editing the internal newsletter and the campus magazine,” McGinnis said.
“I was putting in a hell of a lot of hours.”
McGinnis said in 1998, Information Technology Assistant Vice President Bob Berry joined the university staff, heralding changes to the Web site.
“He had a lot of ideas for the Web site. Things started changing to make the site more interactive, but there wasn’t a lot of planning taking place in the two areas,” McGinnis said.
In early 1999, a committee was formed to discuss management maintenance of the Web site. Members included McGinnis, Berry, Norlock and former Public Relations Spokesperson Rae Goldsmith.
When Goldsmith left in the spring of 1999, McGinnis said Berry set up a university-wide Web site planning team, which did not involve her.
“Not only did he choose not to involve me, but he didn’t even tell me about it, so I was cut out of the information loop. I would have had some good ideas and suggestions,” she said.
Berry said the Web committee focused solely on the academic portion of the Web site, and included representatives from the colleges as members.
Berry said he wasn’t sure why McGinnis was not asked to serve on the committee.
“Quite frankly, I’m an assistant vice president and her boss was Linda Norlock, and her boss was Rae Goldsmith, so I don’t know why someone three steps down was involved with the committee.”
McGinnis said she feels she is being admonished for doing a good job.
“I took the initiative to try something new and now this job no longer exists, but had I not taken the initiative to do this I would have had the job I had. I feel that I’m being penalized for taking the initiative to try something new.”
McGinnis also said she feels mislead.
“In the summer, Jenkins eluded to the fact that I may receive some sort of promotion in October; instead they laid me off.
“There was talk of changing my position to director. I even compiled a job description and received no feedback. Then on Oct. 16, I initiated a meeting to talk about the job. (Jenkins) then said a lot of things were up in the air, but there was no indication that my position would be eliminated,” she said.
Now after 10 years at CMU, McGinnis will leave in December.
“When I look back on my time at CMU, in some ways I feel used. I was performing two jobs.”
Tracy Backs
“I had no idea; I was shocked.”
Backs said she was disappointed with the decision.
“I think that the decision is very bad for the university, the department and for me personally,” she said.
Backs said her job was vital to the university.
“I, as the director of marketing and advertising, was the writer for a university marketing plan. I did years of research on target groups such as parents, students, guidance counselors and non-matriculating students. From that research, I put together a university-wide marketing plan.”
Backs said that after four years of work, both her research and the marketing plan were essentially ignored.
“I don’t even think (University) President (Michael) Rao even knows that they exist, and that was kind of disheartening,” she said.
Rao said he is only aware of a plan that Jenkins developed.
“I wouldn’t be surprised that it was something that he was involved in. I don’t know and can’t make any statements that it was ignored,” he said.
Backs said she was the chair of the former marketing and image-building group, and that the results of those meetings are not credited to those that deserve it.
“We are not getting the recognition of the work that was done and I think Bill is taking credit for (it).”
Jenkins took the listing of the marketing goals and marketing action plans that her group compiled to a meeting with Rao, she said.
“And that portion did not have the name of the authors on it. The only thing that Bill did was take the executive summary from the research I did. Just the fact that in letting me go, they’re losing the knowledge of all this research,” she said.
Jenkins disagreed.
“I don’t remember taking that stuff to anybody. Any work I do for the university belongs to the university and whoever gets credit gets credit. Anyone that’s worked here knows Tracy and that she does marketing,” he said.
The only viable reason for eliminating her position, Backs said, is because “they wanted to get rid of us.
“I’m an excellent employee and have excellent performance reviews. This isn’t a layoff, this is a firing. They can’t do it because of poor performance, so they are going to do it by laying people off and reorganizing the department,” she said.
Backs said she, too, was excluded from meetings that greatly pertained to her job function.
“I’ve been continually excluded from marketing meetings and I am the person on campus that knows the most about it. Bill recently hired a consultant to do a one-day focus group with campus personnel. I was not invited to that meeting. I asked if I could just observe and Bill said he would call me in the morning to tell me if I could attend, but I never got a phone call,” she said.
Backs said she also feels mislead by Jenkins.
“He continually mislead me and basically my presence was ignored. Here I am, the director of marketing, and not allowed to attend this meeting.”
Jenkins said Backs was excluded from the Image Building and Identity Focus Group meeting because he was representing the department.
“We had 20 people taking part and one from my department, which was me. I just didn’t feel that it was necessary to have her attend. That was my call and I felt that one position was adequate,” he said.
Jenkins said Rao likes to receive input from everyone on campus, so a “strategic plan” was formed.
“We talked about key and supporting messages and it was following that meeting when a number of faculty wondered why they weren’t part of that. As part of that process, we were going to have a focus group on core values, and the faculty were really key in that,” he said.
“We decided to change the core values focus group to a more image and identity building focus group. I have just put a report together of comments from members of the group, and once Rao looks at it, we’ll send it out to the focus group, where they can comment on it. Hopefully then, there will be a document created and from that we will develop a marketing plan.”
Backs criticized the purpose of the meeting altogether.
“You want to hear from your target audiences, not someone working at the university.
“I thought it was a waste of money because it is work that I had already done. The consultant was charged with putting together a marketing plan after a one-day focus group,” she said.
However, the big problem, according to Backs, is the fact that the three eliminated positions were occupied by women.
“We’re the three highest-payed females in the department and suddenly we’re out of a job. That screams sexual discrimination,” she said.
Backs said the situation shows that not only did Jenkins discriminate, but the university as well.
“I think that this shows gender discrimination. I’ve requested staff and funds for attending conferences, but I didn’t receive those because Bill told me that we were $90,000 in the whole. Then I found out that four or five colleagues of mine were going to Chicago. All of them are male with the exception of one,” she said.
Jenkins said the allegations of sexual discrimination are false.
“If you look at the number of people in the department it’s 75 percent women,” he said.
Jenkins said the $90,000 was not a deficit in the budget, but a shifting of funds.
“With the addition of the position of executive director of public relations and a second graphic designer, those positions added up to $90,000 in salaries and benefits. That money was transferred from the operating budget to salaries and benefits. I’m now trying to get that $90,000 back, but so far I’ve been unsuccessful.”
Backs said that overall, Jenkins’s leadership skills are not what they should be.
“For a professional communicator he is poor. He doesn’t think of the big picture; he has no vision. I think he’s manipulative and I believe that he is taking the credit for others. Generally, I think that he is incompetent and that the morale of the office is very poor. I feel for the university for being left with a person like this. My co-workers are all worried about their job at this point.”
Linda Norlock
Norlock, who has worked for the department for 12 years, said because Jenkins had talked about restructuring the department since his arrival, she wasn’t totally surprised with the change.
“It’s time for a new phase and I’m sure it will be a good one.”
Sexual discrimination?
Jenkins said he received an e-mail forward from Rao, which originally was sent by Backs’s husband, psychology Associate Professor Richard Backs.
“He’s asking the president to reverse the decision or he will mail a letter to CM LIFE accusing me of sexual harassment,” Jenkins said. “I don’t take kindly to being accused of sexual harassment.”
Richard Backs said his e-mail correspondence should not be viewed as a threat.
“I was going to send the letter to CM LIFE anyway. It wasn’t a threat to rescind the action; I don’t expect that to happen. I wanted (Rao) to see it and respond to it if he saw anything in there that wasn’t accurate. I did not, in any stretch of my imagination, think that this could be misconstrued as a threat. I viewed it as a courtesy to (Rao) to send him a copy before I sent it to the paper,” Backs said.
Rao said the situation will be considered very seriously.
“When there are accusations of discrimination of that nature, it’s important that people use the appropriate venue in the organization, and that would be Affirmative Action Officer Phyllis Powell, in order to make sure it’s handled appropriately,” he said.
Rao said although he is ultimately responsible for Public Relations, it is difficult to be intricately involved in day-to-day operations.
“I made a decision some time ago to have PR report to me. In an institution with 2,500 employees and 27,000 students, it’s important that I know what’s going on.
“It ends up not being possible … to be intimately involved with every employee,” Rao said. “I take responsibility and I’m happy to do that, but there’s only so much I can control. The accusations that have been made strike me as serious and we want to follow up on them.”
What’s next?
Backs said she plans to follow up on the discrimination issue.
“I will be meeting with Powell and I will request a meeting with the president,” she said.
Jenkins said he has encouraged both Norlock and Backs to apply for the new executive director position, and that the job will be posted sometime next week.
“I have offered to help those affected in any way that I can,” he said.
Backs said even if she applied, she would not receive the new position.
“We were offered no reason for the restructuring. Our duties still exist and we were offered to apply for the new position, but there was no job description so I felt that that was an empty offer,” she said.
“I told Bill in July that if there was a position created like the one that has been, I would be very interested, but under the current leadership of the department, I’m not interested in applying. I am definitely looking into opportunities outside the university.”
McGinnis said she is looking to explore the completion of her master’s degree at Saginaw Valley State University.
“They are the only university that has a program in master of arts in communication in multimedia.”
McGinnis said she originally started to work toward her master’s to advance her knowledge for her CMU position. Now, she isn’t sure where she’ll go.
“I was not told of or to apply for the new positions,” she said.
McGinnis said she has already talked with Powell, and that she has requested a one-on-one meeting with Rao.
“I’m looking at options and I’m seeking advice,” she said.
Norlock said she is not planning to apply for the new position but wants to find a new job as soon as possible.
“I don’t have any plans to pursue anything other than a new job.”
Jenkins said although the situation was difficult, the restructuring was necessary.
“I had to take a look at which way the department had to be organized to take the next step,” he said.
Rao said in a situation like this, there is bound to be some degree of difficulty.
“Any leader who would have made a decision that would affect someone’s employment is not likely to be popular. The organization’s needs sometimes change and emerge in areas where the skill bases or the previous positions may not be a match,” he said.