Tech Computer Center User Consultant Handbook |  |
Tech Computer Center User Consultant Handbook | |
A previous TCC employee had posted an article to a newsgroup and received a response which caught him quite by surprise. The response was that the employee could not separate himself from the TCC by use of a disclaimer and that people would still associate his words (disclaimer or not) as indicating the TCC's stance on the subject (official or not). While that is not our official position on the subject it certainly has much truth to it. It's something to ponder.
“ You are still a representative of the TCC and what you say matters! Your personal feelings aside, you took the job and you must now deal with the responsibilities that come with it. Everything you say matters to people because your attitudes toward things affect their ability to obtain those things. ”
“ No amount of “I don't represent the TCC right now” is going to matter until: ”
you are not affiliated with the TCC
your account is not provided by the TCC
you did not post that on the TCC's time (probably did not happen anyway)
and people forget that you were affiliated with the TCC.
“ If you don't like it you know your options. ”
This response caused the employee to reconsider his affiliation with the TCC since he had not considered this aspect of that affiliation earlier.
What follows are my comments (to the UC) after he asked what I thought of the matter.
Personally I agree with all but the fourth point. I think that one is worded a little too strongly (some people have very good memories!), and would probably be better if it were along the lines of ``people know that you are no longer employed by the TCC'' (which you could do by telling them). Item three may or may not be relevant (that'll probably be determined by which side of the argument you are on!). The second item should be taken care of when the student employees move all of their work related stuff to /usr/local/tcc/work and then purchases a normal account either through fees charged at registration, or out of pocket (though one could argue that the larger than standard quota which TCC employees get as a default may be considered as providing the account). Item one is the catch-all. No way around that one (while you work here). His opening paragraph is the clincher. I can't see any way to argue with the validity of the first and third sentences, they are true. The second sentence puts it all in your hands to do with as you see fit. In the long-run, accepting responsibilities makes life easier than shirking them would (shirking is usually easier in the short term though, and unfortunately this society is into short term thinking). That sums up my personal view of it. There is the related topic of how much an employer is entitled to get into your personal life. Then there is the further related argument on how relevant that is to the topic at hand. (and so on and so forth -- philosophy tends to be that way!). It appears to me as a reminder that your public statements are easily taken as indicating the position of the TCC on things which relate to the TCC (whether you disclaim them or not, and whether they actually do or not). |