Five Key Elements

1. Create an unwavering performance ethic. Implement an effective performance management system that reinforces accountability and provides a consistent and fair reward and recognition system.

2. Establish and reinforce values that drive the University toward the realization of a shared vision.

3. Build a deeper understanding of what motivates individuals and enforce individual accountability.

4. Create an environment that encourages change and enables sharing of ideas and strategies.

5. Develop and communicate clear goals (University, department, and individual).

The ultimate importance of potential impact of MAP is best summarized by Sarah Stockton, former staff member at San Francisco State University and currently a freelance writer and editor. Excerpts from an article that appeared in the May 2, 2001 Chronicle of Higher Education accurately portray the perception of many staff members within the Montana University System.

"People on a campus can be divided into three groups: the faculty (which includes administrators), the students, and the staff. Faculty members are the providers, scholars, researchers, educators, academics, writers, and committee members (and administrators make policy and budget decisions). The students are consumers, learners, seekers, and participants. The staff are, well, employees.

When I was a staff member at a large, urban, public university, I worked for the state. Only secondarily did I work for the university. The state had final say over my work schedule, my pay, and my vacation, retirement, and health benefits - as well as my job security.

That control can be devastating to employees' productivity and morale if they aren't rewarded in other ways. You get no end-of-the-year bonus based on how many problems you solved, how many times you helped a student navigate some bureaucratic quagmire, or how often you walked a faculty member through a software program...

...I thought about how to find a place in the university that would suit my skills and talents so that I could serve its mission without feeling like - or being treated like - just an employee...

...I know of other staff members who have dedicated themselves to academe...

...On the other hand, I have seen several valuable employees leave academe, and not just for practical reasons like low pay or because they worked in offices or departments that were understaffed. The real reason they left is less tangible: They didn't feel valued or - even more important - included...

...One of the most valuable resources a university can have, its staff, is often overlooked, unrecognized, and undervalued...

Much discussion occurs these days about how to strengthen higher education's sense of purpose. Faculty members seek to find meaning in their teaching and research activities. Students find meaning in community service and in interdisciplinary approaches to learning that help connect them to the world outside the campus. Papers are written, conferences are held. The people who set up the chairs and the microphones for a conference on meaning in education may be seeking precisely that - meaning. The secretary who types the program, the graphic artist who designs the handouts, the dining-services employees who provide the coffee and bagels may all be doing those things not just as state employees, but also as members of a university. Why should anyone presume otherwise?"