Recollections of MC

Recollections of MC
by Hal Messer

My remembrance of MC is that it is an educational institution where many very dedicated and highly professional people came together and worked very industriously and progressively toward the provision of high quality education for residents of all ages in Montgomery County. I consider it my good fortune to have played a small part in this endeavor.

During my tenure at MC as Director of Personnel in the years from 1969 to 1981, the institution experienced several years of substantial growth in terms of both student enrollment and number of full-time staff as well as a sizable increase in physical plant. Toward the end of my service there began a period of enrollment slowdown and increasing fiscal restraints.

Both positive and negative aspects were associated with my time at MC with, fortunately, more positive than negative. Probably my greatest pleasure was derived from being a part of the successful growth over a period of several years of both the personnel function and the institution as a whole. Considerable personal satisfaction was derived from helping the personnel function change from an operation of limited scope into a larger and considerably more professional operation with much broader institutional responsibilities. This evolution of the personnel function was greatly facilitated by the encouragement and support received through the years from the office of the President. Another positive factor was that of being associated with an institution of such quality that it received national as well as state and local recognition. My proudest reminiscence of my years at MC is that, in a small way, my representation of MC in personnel circles at national, state, and local levels served to support, and perhaps even enhance to some degree, this fine institutional reputation enjoyed by MC.

As with most experiences there are some negative ones. Undoubtedly the most frustrating aspect of my stay at MC was the placing (during the early years of service) of numerous demands upon my time and the time of the staff of the personnel office in preparation of responses to request from the Board of Trustees concerning administrative details. These requests, coming as they did during a period of rapid institutional growth, exacerbated the growing pains experienced at that time by a small personnel office staff.

Another considerable frustration (not peculiar to MC) was the substantially increased individual employee litigation. Coming as it did during a time of gradual erosion of management rights, it placed increased demands upon the institution in terms of a heavier workload in the personnel area and in terms of enlarged institutional costs for legal fees.

I also categorize as negative the fact that the College’s first experience with labor negotiations started while I was there. The inevitable polarization of people’s emotions, the large amount of people’s time, and the sizable expenditure for legal fees associated with this process, as well as the resultant negative effect on the institutional atmosphere and fiscal condition, made this entire process extremely distasteful and unproductive to me.

However, in spite of these negative recollections, my time at MC was substantially productive both personally and professionally, and I am proud to have been associated with such an institution of quality and to have shared those years with so many fine and capable people.

I wish MC and all those connected with it the very best in the days and years ahead.

Central Administration: Director of Personnel, 1969–1981; Director of Personnel Emeritus.