missouri state university’s general counsels office
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Missouri State University’sGeneral Counsels Office
Chelsea Clark, Robin Hamilton, Riley O’Dell, and Alex Owens
Data Collection • Interviews
• Ed Choate – Director of Human Resources • Chris Craig – Associate Provost • Ryan DeBoef - Legal Counsel • Penni Groves – General Counsel • Belinda McCarthy – Former Missouri State Provost and Current
Professor• TJ Phinney – Part Time Administrative Assistant • Clif Smart – Former Missouri State General Counsel and Current
Preisdent • Lisa Taylor – Paralegal
• Artifacts Collection - Pictures of Office
This unit is in charge of “assisting with university compliance with Federal and State laws providing
legal advise to administrators, and assisting university employees, and carrying out tasks assigned by the Board of Governors and
President of Missouri State University”
(Provost Communiqué, 2012).
History • John Black •Clif Smart•Penni Groves •Office is unique because many large universities rely on outside counsel versus having a team of lawyers directly working for the university
Organizational Structure
Board of Governors
ParalegalLisa Taylor Legal Counsel
Ryan Deboef Admin.
AssistantTJ Phinney
General CounselPenni Groves
System PresidentCliff Smart
Office Structure Penni Groves
General Counsel
• Lead Legal Counsel for MSU
• Represents Board of Governors, University Administration and Faculty
• Serves as a sounding board for all legal decisions for policy changes at MSU in order to minimize litigation
• Member of Administrative Counsel and other committees
Office Structure Ryan DeBoef
Legal Counsel
• Serves as a sounding board for all legal decisions for policy changes at MSU in order to minimize litigation
• Focuses on the division student affairs
• Member of VP Staff and Behavioral Intervention Team
Office Structure•Lisa Taylor –
Paralegal•Clerical tasks –
budgeting • Coordinates
meetings •Draft writer for
legal language of new policies and contracts
• TJ Phinney – Administrative Assistant
• Answers phones• Welcomes guests
and visitors• Clerical tasks
Style Leadership Approach
•Combines two different types of behaviors – task and relationship
•Task Behaviors include facilitating goals and accomplishing tasks
•Relationship Behaviors include those that build positive moral amongst subordinates and colleges
Leadership Approach of Penni Groves
• Team Management (9,9) • Collaborative, prefers face to face communication,
trusts her colleagues • “Penni is very hands-on and she wants to know what
is going on. If it involves this department, she wants to know, and for good reason.” – Lisa Taylor
• “Even though I have a great deal of respect for Ryan, he still works for me.” – Penni Groves
Leadership Approach of Ryan Deboef
• Country Club (1, 9)• Laid back, easy going, does not worry about how goals
are accomplished, uses humor • “I don’t make mountains out of molehills. I'm very
hands-off. I don’t care how it gets done, just as long as it gets done.” – Ryan DeBoef
• “You give your advice, and you don’t get too concerned with whether your advice gets followed or not.” – Ryan DeBoef
Bureaucracy Organizational Approach
The Bureaucracy approach is hierarchal in nature. It position individuals with authority to use a top-down
structure for completing organizational tasks, maintain order, and remain consistent. It includes the following
aspects:• Appointment of Staff• Authority• Communication • Decision Making • Ways of Operating
• Labor Organization
• Span of Control
• Stability of Personnel
• Centralization/ Decentralization
New Science Organizational Approach
The New Science Approach is rooted in relationships and open communication within an organization. It is holistic
and allows employees to have autonomy with organization’s tasks and projects. This approach includes
the following aspects:• Nondulistic• Trust and cooperation • Communication• Power• Leadership
Bureaucracy and The General Counsels Office
• “If Penni tells me what to do, I have to do it, or she will fire me” - Ryan DeBoef
• “At the end of the day I still sign [Ryan’s] times sheets” – Penni Groves
• Attorney – client privilege • Clif Smart• From the outside looking in the office appears to be
closed off and secretive
New Science and THe General Counsel’s Office
• Transparency• Supportive Atmosphere • Communication • “No matter what the situation is, we always try to
have each other’s backs” – Ryan DeBoef• First come First Serve
Leadership Impact• Common thread of the General Counsel Office – Penni
Groves • Personal and Professional Relationships • Presence with Other Offices • Communication • Office Buy–in
Culture and Martin • “Culture is the set of important understandings (often
unstated) that members of a community share in common”
• Technical Jargon is task orientated and appears to be emotionally neutral
• Attorney Client Privilege• Secret and stilted environment
• Physical Arrangement – dress in the office, secure environment
• Buying and Sharing of the Culture
References
Questions and Comments
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