ASSESSING THE POTENTIAL FOR CHANGE 63 HUMAN RESOURCE • Are you attentive to how reorganization in the dean’s office represents interests in each department (e.g., clustering of responsibilities, degree area of the individual being hired)? • Are you attentive to how your decision will be viewed by tenured/ tenure-track faculty? • Have stakeholders been regularly updated on assessment of the problems and decisions along the way? • How do you communicate about the change so individuals do not take it personally? • Have you used a variety of media to communicate the change (e.g., 1-on-1 meetings, emails, newsletters, town halls, social gatherings)? • How well matched are people with the expectations and descriptions of their positions? • Can you move people among positions to reduce conflict? • As personnel come and go, are you attending to the different skill sets that people bring to the position? • Prior to changing a job description or shifting the responsibility for a task, have you holistically reviewed the responsibilities of all support staff to optimize bundling of responsibilities? • If the change involves changes in roles and /or responsibilities of people, what will the impact be on individuals? Does it offer something positive for that change (e.g., salary increase, title change, professional growth) or potentially negative (elimination of position, taking on extra duties, reporting to someone different who they don’t like as well)? • Does your office model provide potential growth opportunities in administra- tion for faculty and staff? • Have you considered cross-training support staff in key office responsibilities? • Are the desks or offices of support personnel with similar functions or responsi- bilities proximate to each other? • What mechanisms might you employ to alleviate faculty and staff concerns about change (e.g., joint appointments, callback options)? SYMBOLIC • Have you done an advertised listening tour of key constituents? • Are you considering the potential to provide symbolic meaning for the change (e.g., elevate the status of the arts, show your shared pain in budget cuts, sense of equity)? • Can you time the change with another meaningful event (e.g., anniversary of the university or college, key retirement, budget cuts)? • Have you fully utilized publicity vehicles to shed a positive light on the change? • How will you celebrate or otherwise demonstrate the change has occurred?