Question: This is a somewhat long case, but you need the background information for the case to make sense. After 25 years, Art is finally ready

This is a somewhat long case, but you need the
This is a somewhat long case, but you need the
This is a somewhat long case, but you need the
This is a somewhat long case, but you need the background information for the case to make sense. After 25 years, Art is finally ready to retire and take it easy. Art teaches accounting and general business courses at Youngstown Community College. The business department at Youngstown offers business administration classes transferable to State University as well as professional and technical programs that culminate in a certificate after one year of study or an associate's degree after two years of study, Youngstown has a dual enrollment agreement with State, and as a result, many business students at Youngstown are also enrolled at State. Art teaches several of the business transfer classes at Youngtown, but his real love is the non-transfer professional accounting program Besides the regular accounting classes and internships, Youngstown maintains an accounting lab where students can get tutoring help if needed. The current lab tutor is David, who was hired two years ago when Dianne retired after nearly 10 years as the accounting tutor. David is a former student of Arts and holds an associate's degree from Youngstown and a bachelor's from State. The lab job is part-time, which works out perfectly for David, leaving him plenty of time to pursue his MBA in accounting at State. David wants to teach accounting at Youngstown when he completes his MBA As a tutor, David has brought the accounting lab to life. He relates well with students, is an excellent tutor, and the faculty sees him as a valuable member of the department. In the two years he has worked in the lab, David has become good friends with Evan, the business department dean. They frequently have lunch together and even socialize with their wives outside of work. Last summer the families went camping together over the 4th of July, and this year they expect to do the same. Evan is chair of the committee to find Art's replacement. The committee consists of Evan, two additional faculty members, an administrator from another department and Mary, the department chair for business and accounting. Once the rumor mill in the business department at Youngstown Community College got wind that the dean, Evan Comstock, wanted to move David into the faculty position vacated by Art's retirement, it was all anyone could talk about. No one was surprised at Evan's intention because he had taken David under his wing two years ago, when David was hired as the tutor in the accounting lab. Evan and David had become good friends since, and there had been previous instances of favoritism that left everyone feeling uneasy, but this was really too much. The problem was that Art's position required an MBA in accounting, and David had only a bachelor's degree. Although David was enrolled in an MBA program at State University, he wouldn't be finished for at least another year. Until then, he would only be qualified to teach professional and technical accounting courses and none of the classes that transfer to State. The rest of the accounting faculty would have to pick up the slack until David finished his MBA. It would increase everyone's workload and create a scheduling nightmare. While everyone liked David and agreed he was a great tutor, there was a lot of grumbling, They didn't have to grumble for long, Evan had rewritten Art's job description to ensure that David would qualify. When the new, watered-down job description landed on vice president Schilling's desk, he called Evan immediately. Schilling was never one to mince words. "Evan, what are you thinking over there? Return the posting back to fit the actual position and get on with the search!" he shouted, and that was the end of Evan's plan for David The position still had to be filled, so HR conducted the recruitment process, and a selection committee was formed consisting of Evan, the department chair, two additional faculty members and an administrator from another department. The recruitment process generated a number of good applicants, and the committee finally narrowed down the pool to five well-qualified candidates to interview. Everyone on the committee thought the interviews went well, but, of course, Evan didn't like any of the candidates. There was much discussion and second interviews with two candidates until Evan reluctantly agreed to hire Lana. Lana had several years of part-time teaching experience and had been a practicing CPA for a number of years. She had the required MBA and was eager to transition out of accounting and into full-time teaching. She was scheduled to start in the fall because she was currently living in a small town 200 miles south of Youngstown. She immediately started shopping for a house in the Youngstown community and planned to move her family during the summer break. Fall term enrollment was up in the accounting program and classes were full. It seemed Lana was off to a good start. She fit in well with faculty members and had positive student evaluations. Everyone seemed pleased, except Evan. He claimed Lana's high student appraisals were because students knew she was an easy A" and not from good teaching. He changed her winter term class schedule, giving her night classes followed by early morning classes the next day. He seldom visited other instructors' classes, but monitored Lana's lectures constantly. Lana told Mary, the department chair, that his frequent visits to her classes made her nervous and were disruptive. He would come into her class in the middle of a lecture, ask inappropriate questions and then walk out before class was over. It happened so often that even students were getting annoyed. After class, Evan would send Lana an e-mail criticizing her teaching, but when she asked to talk to him about it, he would never schedule an appointment. Some days he would stop by her office just to ask her what she was doing, or he would stop by when she wasn't scheduled to be there and the next day he would ask her where she had been. During tax season, Lana worked part-time for a CPA firm, as did most of the other accounting instructors. This raised even more ire from Evan. He told her she was off campus too much and asked her to give him a weekly schedule every Monday morning so he would know where she was. No other faculty was required to turn in a schedule. At the end of winter term, Evan set up appointments to meet with students who had not done well in Lana's classes. He asked them to critique her teaching "Why doesn't he talk to my 'A' students?" Lana asked Mary. "I think he's trying to drum me out of here," she said tearfully. "I feel so guilty for my family. They changed their lives so we could move to Youngstown and I could have this career. Some days, he has me so on edge I just want to quit. You know I can't win. Even if I tough it out, I'm on trial service for two more years. He can decide to dump me at any time, and there's nothing I can do about it. Some faculty say he's just waiting for David to finish his MBA. I don't know what to do. If he lets me go, what do I say to my family?" 1) Evaluate the hiring process. Despite what Evan did, was the integrity of the hiring process maintained? 2) Is Evan conducting a proper performance management evaluation on Lana? Explain why or why not. 3) While Evan's attitude and behavior toward Lana is certainly in poor form at times, do you think it could be considered constructive discharge? Harassment? Why or why not? (Please address both) 4) If you were Lana and her boss Mary, what would you do to handle the situation? a. How would it be different if the college was unionized? 5) How should HR/The Provost handle Dean Evan, Lana, and the situation

Step by Step Solution

There are 3 Steps involved in it

1 Expert Approved Answer
Step: 1 Unlock blur-text-image
Question Has Been Solved by an Expert!

Get step-by-step solutions from verified subject matter experts

Step: 2 Unlock
Step: 3 Unlock

Students Have Also Explored These Related General Management Questions!