Wednesday, August 30, 2006

A tip of the hat to one of the good guys - Bill McMinn

I heard that Bill McMinn is going to retire at the end of this year and wanted to congratulate him on a great run. Bill is the director of Recreational Sports and Services-SIUC, which is the REC center, campus lake boat dock, all intramural sports and fields and all the other stuff that is sports related outside of the Athletic Department at SIUC. He works hard, understands customer service and has built up some fabulous programs and facilities in his 30 years at SIUC.

Bill has figured out how to manage student workers, he runs the REC Center with student workers in mass numbers. One of the great things about Bill's methods is the student workers have real work to do and if they don't do the work the customers will feel the effects. He has also built a system where student workers can be promoted and gain responsibility and status inside his programs. I know that the civil service managers of his programs mostly come from his own ranks. Everyone knows the powerful tool of promotion from within works (don't they?).

Are all the student workers working hard every second of the day and night? Well no. But part of the experience SIUC should provide student workers is giving them work important enough that if they fail it will be noticed and management to help correct that failure. Maybe the most valuable lesson you can give a student worker is to fire them or promote someone more deserving over them and allow them to experience that in the safe and temporary environment of the college?

If you want to see how to hire and manage student workers in a positive way for everyone, go see Bill's operation. I hope his replacement is someone who understands that system and can continue it. I'm going to call the REC Center my example of how to do student work the right way.

I don't know what Bill is going to do next, but I know the Boys and Girl's Club of Carbondale can use him on the board if he has the time.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'll say some more things about Bill McMinn. First, he's an awfully nice fellow. He introduced himself to me as he was checking the beach house during my first jog around Campus Lake, so I've known him for 17 years.

Second, I served for a long time on A/P Staff Council and it seemed like Bill was always serving as the Council's rep to something. Bill is always serving the University in several ways at any given time. He's really an "institution man" and by that I mean someone who is here for the purpose of advancing the institution, not for the purpose of advancing himself or stroking his ego.

This tremendous University citizen will be missed. I hope he stays in our community so we get even more work out of him.

Anonymous said...

Say it ain't so. Bill and his Rec. have been the one thing that "worked" on campus. Let's hope it isn't

apres Bill, le deluge.

Jonathan Bean
Gymrat and historian