Convenor/Recorder/Reporter: Dale Uno
Group Members:
Burning Issue: What is PIO’s role in the College?
Highest Hopes: A clear, common picture of PIO’s role in the College that enables PIO to serve all its clients efficiently by creating the mechanisms that provide adequate support for PIO to do its job.
Challenges or Barriers:
- Prioritizing based on the best use of available resources.
- No director to provide immediate oversight, direction, management and leadership.
- Clients’ lack of understanding of PIO’s services.
- Lack of mechanisms for growth as needed.
Strategies:
- Advisory group.
- Find a model to pattern PIO after.
- Identify tools/methods for obtaining feedback from stakeholders.
- Hire a consultant.
- Establish focus groups made up of faculty, staff, and administration.
Action Items:
Administrator: Dean Andy Hashimoto
Group Member Responsible for Follow-Up: Dale Uno
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Progress as of June 2002
In the weeks prior to the conference, Donna Ching facilitated three PIO staff meetings to assist them through a self-assessment process that resulted in a document which was later presented to the Dean. Among other things, this document identifies the units strengths, challenges, and contributions to the College.
Subsequently, the Dean enlisted the assistance of Gwil Evans of OSU to act as a consultant to PIO. Gwil has had two teleconferences with PIO staff since the conference, and has already helped PIO articulate further what the unit must do to move forward and increase its value to the College.
Although a survey was done in January/February of 2002, its results seem questionable because not all stakeholders were given the opportunity to provide their input. Thus, there still remains a need to develop and utilize an effective tool or method for assessing the needs of the College in regards to PIO's services.
This "Burning Issue Session" was a good start to the dialogue necessary for defining the role of PIO in the College. However, follow-up is critical. There needs to be a formal mechanism by which on-going dialogue between PIO and the faculty is maintained.
Progress as of May 2003
After about a month of working with PIO by telephone, Gwil Evans suggested that a member of PIO serve as interim director to (1) give the unit stability; (2) provide the unit a liaison to the leaders of the College; (3) ensure that the unit continue the process of identifying its role in the College; and (4) ensure the development of standard operating policies and procedures designed to increase productivity and better use the unit’s resources. In June of 2002, the Dean appointed Dale Uno to serve as interim director for 18 months.
Since then, the unit has:
- Continued to clarify its list of products and services
- Revised its Request For Services form (Form 294) to more accurately reflect the products and services it provides
- Developed additional forms used internally to standardize some operating procedures
- Initiated regularly scheduled staff meetings to facilitate internal communication and continue the development of standard operating procedures
- Hired a full-time writer to assume Jody Moore’s duties (Dean’s Notes, legislative testimony and tracking, annual Impact Report writing, and writing for the Dean) as well as to write and gather images for CTAHR web features, Ko Ka Aina, and other PIO projects
- Hired an events coordinator to handle the logistics of College-wide events—including the annual Awards Banquet, College-wide conferences, the annual Agriculture Conference, and the Conversational Skills workshops—as well as some events for the Associate Deans and the Development Officer
- Hired an aquaculture publications specialist in a partnership with the Center for Tropical and Subtropical Aquaculture (salary and overhead paid for by a CTSA grant)
- Initiated regularly scheduled editorial meetings to develop a strategic plan for effective information dissemination
- Standardized the way PIO handles the public relations needs of its clientele
- Increased collaboration with the Planning and Management Services Office to facilitate the successful completion of projects that impact the entire College
Additionally, the unit is in the process of developing:
- A College-wide events and publications calendar that will help facilitate more efficient planning of College events, assist the Development Officer with his philanthropic giving campaign, provide a central location for department and county seminar/workshop information, provide a central location for important College deadlines, and provide CTAHR stakeholders with more information about the College than is currently available
- A Video Project Call for Proposal System that will improve service to internal CTAHR clientele and maximize the impact of their, as well as CTAHR Video efforts. This will also help with project management and improve timely service to internal clientele
- The aforementioned strategic plan for effective information dissemination that will ensure the efficient use of PIO’s information harvesting efforts; make wise use of the efforts of PIO specialists; take into account the kinds of information PIO handles and the target audiences for this information; identify heretofore neglected audiences and avenues of information dissemination; and meet the needs of PIO and CTAHR stakeholders
- An efficient and effective system of feedback that will enable PIO to continue refining its operational procedures and increase its productivity
- A mailing database that provides a central location for College mailing lists
- A plan for training PIO stakeholders on basic skills and knowledge that will help stakeholders better understand the importance of their role in the development of their projects, ensure a higher rate of success, and increase stakeholders’ ability to provide the materials and support needed to successfully complete their projects
Finally, the most important change PIO has undergone since the May 2002 College-Wide Conference lies in the attitudes of its members. As a result of its work with Donna Ching and Gwil Evans and the attendance of all its members at the Conversational Skills workshops, PIO has evolved into a cohesive unit made up of team members who collaborate, cooperate, and communicate often. In June of 2003, PIO will undergo strategic planning to articulate its vision, mission, and goals, and to further refine its operational policies and procedures. Also in June, PIO will be moving some of its members to offices on the Ewa side of the ground floor of Gilmore Hall to facilitate increased collaboration among its members.
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