If you walk into the Oxford Community Schools Administration Building, located at 10 N. Washington Street, and walk up stairs looking for the superintendent, you won’t find him. That’s because his office has moved.
As a part of his transition period of taking over as superintendent back in May, Tim Throne took on the task of talking to each of his administrators, which not only included the staff at central office, but all across the district, to find out how they can improve.
‘It was probably around 60 to 70 interviews,? Throne said, who noted that he let them talk to him about anything they wanted and whatever was shared would remain confidential.
‘People could talk about themselves, their own career aspirations, the district, talk about the community,? he said. ‘I really just let them talk about whatever they wanted to share with me, good things and/or bad things, whatever was on their heart.?
Throne said the reason was not only get a different perspective of the district, but also to find out if there were any common ‘pinch points? they wanted to look at. It turns out one of the pinch points was ‘the flow of the downtown offices.?
‘In looking at all of our different departments, getting input from not only the people that work in the building but people that frequent the building, including parents,? Throne said. ‘We sat down and just started brainstorming on how we could change things to make things first and foremost more beneficial for the people that visit the downtown offices as well as our own employees.?
The layout
Because the two most visited departments by the public are Student Services and the Superintendent’s Office, Throne along with his Administrative Assistant Pat Bono moved their offices to the first floor and relocated to where student services used to be and put Student Services over where finance department was located.
‘We wanted to make our offices accessible and easy to get to,? explained Throne. ‘We put student services over (where finance was) because that was the most frequented by parents and community members and that way you’re not walking through another office or department to get to student services.?
Along with Throne and Bono, Technology Consultant Debbie Fox relocated her office from Oxford High School over to superintendents. Because Throne is still overseeing technology in his position as superintendent, it was more convenient to have Debbie right there assessable in the same building.
Also holding an office in student services is Matt Johnson, director of the communications/marketing for Oxford. Johnson also works closely with Throne. Speaking of communications, Throne noted that one of the positions they have redefined is the ‘communications coordinator,? previously someone in that role was responsible for doing press releases, communicating with the media as well as helping Johnson out with website postings.
The new role of that person will be more of a receptionist. Instead of getting an automated machine when people call, a human voice will answer a phone during the normal work hours and also help direct people as they enter the administration building to the department they’re looking for.
That office will be located right to the left as people enter the back door, which is also the main entrance of the administration building. However this person will still maintain helping Johnson with website and Facebook updating, as well as be in charge of coordinating the facilities schedule and who is using what building and what room and filing the mail when it comes to the office.
Throne is hoping to post a job description and advertise for the new position soon.
As you move upstairs to the second floor the Finance Department has now joined both Human Resources and Curriculum and Instruction.
‘I would say that was also a conscious decision in that both realistically as well as metaphorically we wanted to make sure we removed walls between those departments. Those three departments really need to communicate well between each other.
Throne said many of the activities that happen in one department often affect another and his hope is that this will make things run smoother.
‘Just from a business process perspective, those three areas just need to be on lock step with each other,? he said. ‘By putting them all on the same floor, we’re hoping that helps the communication between all three of them.?
Also located upstairs is Oxford Virtual Academy (OVA) Director Drew Hulbert, who also moved his office from the high school to the downtown. His office will be to the left right before entering Finance and Curriculum. Because OVA not only does virtual but ‘blended instruction? of both virtual and seated, Throne said it made sense to again try and better the communication between departments
‘We’re doing more out of the virtual Academy and additional virtual activities where to we felt it was beneficial to have Drew down here,? he said.
Down in the basement will be the offices of Kim Jefferey, special education secretary, Instructional Coach Nathan Spencer and Literary Coach Maureen Magdaleno. Throne said both Spencer and Magdaleno report to Chief Academic Officer Ken Weaver.
Also in the basement is Brad Smith, one of the district’s tech guys.
‘Every summer we recycle and update and refresh all the laptops and netbooks and stuff for the virtual academy. For that you got to have a ton of room, we’re talking 500 some laptops,? Throne said. ‘So his office is going to be down there in order to (have room) turn those out as well as couple other virtual academy staff members.?
Better service
All of this was done to enhance customer service, according to Throne.
‘We don’t produce a product, we provide a service. In the sector of education, people have choices and they can choose to go and get their educational services provided by numerous organizations,? he said. ‘We want to make sure we continually stride to make ourselves better and make ourselves more efficient to be welcoming, to have good customer service, to be easy to get a hold of and be directed to who you need to talk to and all those types of thing.?