Vacancies at USMMA

tankercaptain

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Update on Vacancies at USMMA

The Merchant Marine Academy may lose its highly respected Academic Dean, Dr. Shashi Kumar, who holds a Ph.D. in Maritime Economics, is a Master Mariner and a Fulbright Senior Specialist and has stepped up to serve as interim Superintendent three separate times. As a recognized maritime policy expert, he writes the “U.S. Merchant Marine and World Maritime Review” published annually in the Naval Institute Proceedings magazine. A recent article in the Charleston, South Carolina, Business Journal reported that Dean Kumar is one of three finalists for the position of Provost at The Citadel military college. He was selected from a field of over 130 qualified candidates.

The potential departure of Dean Kumar follows other high level departures from USMMA:

  • Commandant John Kennedy will be leaving March 6, 2015 after beginning his job search at least a year ago.
  • Athletic Director Susan Petersen-Lubow stepped down in March 2014 and only now is that position being filled.
  • Waterfront Director Chris Gasiorek vacated his position in February 2014. His position remains unfilled.
  • The Sexual Assault and Response Coordinator (SARC) left last spring and was not replaced for six months resulting in a deficiency in a recent Inspector General Audit.
  • Four vacancies in Admissions include the Assistant Director of Admissions Michael DeRosa who left last summer, and the Diversity Recruiter position, vacated in July, 2014 as well as Admissions Officer Norm Johnsen who left in 2013. The class of 2019 will be the first plebe class in memory to have no foreign students because the Admissions Department is functioning at 50% staffing.
  • Tactical Officer, Regimental Logistics Officer and Student Activities Director vacancies exist in the Commandant’s Division.
  • External Affairs Director and assistant in Administration have been vacant since 2013.
  • There are currently seven vacancies in the academic departments, some of which have been vacant for six months or longer.
    The departure of Dean Kumar would leave the Academy in an unusual position, as Kumar is the only mariner at the senior administrative level. Unlike the other Service Academies who have administrations comprised almost entirely of graduates who are experts in the mission of those Academies, USMMA has only Kumar. This means that the nation’s only federal Merchant Marine Academy, whose mission is to educate and develop the next generation of maritime professionals, will be fully under the leadership and guidance of non-mariners.

    When advertised, Academy vacancies are posted on USMMA-AAF social media portals and can be found on USMMAAF.com. Qualified Kings Pointers are encouraged to apply.




 
The most important takeaway from that for me is:

Qualified Kings Pointers are encouraged to apply.

I'd love to see some of my fellow graduates fill some of those roles. If we want to have a say in how the school is run or have a direct impact on the person the school graduates we have several ways.

1) Donate to the alumni foundation
2)Apply and be hired as faculty and staff.

Those are two of the many great ways. We only have ourselves to blame if we don't participate.
 
The most important takeaway from that for me is:

Qualified Kings Pointers are encouraged to apply.

I'd love to see some of my fellow graduates fill some of those roles. If we want to have a say in how the school is run or have a direct impact on the person the school graduates we have several ways.

1) Donate to the alumni foundation
2)Apply and be hired as faculty and staff.

Those are two of the many great ways. We only have ourselves to blame if we don't participate.

It's a lot more complex than donating money and having Kings Pointers apply.

MARAD and DOT as you know have a large say on how hiring is done, how the school is run and how and when they accept money from the Alumni Foundation.

We honestly have little control on how KP is run.
 
Seems fairly obvious that not having experienced experts available to teach our future leaders is a real problem in the making.

No disrespect meant, but from a hiring/recruiting standpoint wouldn't there be a compensation challenge for former Kings Pointers to assume some of these roles?

It's accepted that USMMA grads are quite highly paid as compared to other SA graduates; one can only assume that those with the most experience would be even more highly compensated and in demand. In short.... Wouldn't the kind of person you want at USMMA be making too much darn money to be a teacher?
 
Seems fairly obvious that not having experienced experts available to teach our future leaders is a real problem in the making.

No disrespect meant, but from a hiring/recruiting standpoint wouldn't there be a compensation challenge for former Kings Pointers to assume some of these roles?

It's accepted that USMMA grads are quite highly paid as compared to other SA graduates; one can only assume that those with the most experience would be even more highly compensated and in demand. In short.... Wouldn't the kind of person you want at USMMA be making too much darn money to be a teacher?


The issue at Kings Point isn't money. Talking with friends who teach there, the problem is that it has become a toxic place to work.
 
It's a lot more complex than donating money and having Kings Pointers apply.

Oh, I completely agree; however, the overall apathy of the alumni is quite evident by the rates of giving and the number who apply when openings happen. Just look at my class alone, we've been out for almost 15 years now and the total number who donate is pathetic, the number who donate in the Superintendent's Council is abominable.


We honestly have little control on how KP is run.
But we don't even help in the areas that we could potentially have some impact. If we don't try we will have zero say, if we try, we may still have zero say, but we may have a better understanding of how we can make a difference. 'If you aren't on the field then you can't play.'

Now, there are groups of alumni who are doing as much as humanly possible and then some, and there is a slightly larger group that is active and does what they can within their limits. There is a huge group who does nothing though.
 
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