As Institute Director, my policy is to have, in as much as is possible due to scheduling constraints, my door open to all at the Institute–this includes all support staff, graduate students, post-doctoral fellows and faculty. Sometimes this gets complicated: suppose someone from one of our Centers comes to me on occaision and speaks out of school?
This is an unavoidable complication. Everybody at Krasnow should have equal access to the Director’s ear–that’s part of the reason for this blog (you can leave comments I think). My job is to weigh the various points of view, the sometimes conflicting perspectives and try to arrive at solutions (or at least suggestions) that are best for the Institute and the University, while at the same time retaining sensitivity to the needs of the individual, all of whom are valued friends and colleages.
One thing Center Directors can do: urge your staff to keep you in the loop, so that neither of us is blind-sided. After seven years in this job, the most important thing I have learned is the importance of keeping folks in the loop. Let’s all work on that together.
Jim
Discoverers and Discoveries 