Oxford University Students’ Union has found itself without a “vital” member of its team after the contract of its Strategic and Financial Manager was abruptly ended last week.
Eleanor Crichton, a graduate from St Anne’s, took office in June on what was intended to be a nine-month paid contract.
However, she will now not be replaced by a full-time professional until at least August next year, with some of the position’s responsibilities having to be dropped as a result.
Lewis Iwu, OUSU President, has refused to divulge the reasons for her departure, saying it was a “confidential personnel matter.” But he did admit there had been “teething problems” with the position that he hoped would be “ironed out” with the next appointment.
He also admitted that OUSU hadn’t properly vetted candidates for the position when they were interviewed last year.
OUSU President Lewis Iwu created the position of Strategic and Financial Manager during his time as Finance Manager of OUSU two years ago. “The role of Strategic and Financial administration Manager is key to the long term vision and finances of the Student Union. The role will provide us with expertise, continuity and professionalism which I think will benefit the students of Oxford,” he stated.
In the meantime, the position will be filled by Richard Hardiman, last year’s OUSU Vice-President for Finance.
Iwu was keen to stress that Hardiman is only an “acting” Financial Manager and insisted that he would be replaced as soon as a more suitable candidate was found. However, both Iwu and Hardiman confirmed that Hardiman’s contract had been agreed until the 28 August 2009.
Hardiman is to stay as Financial Manager for over ten months in order to give OUSU time to hunt for a new candidate, said Iwu. He stated that the search for a new employee will not begin until January when the OUSU General Office Manager returns from leave, and expects to spend “at least four to five months” investigating the background and quality of potential applicants to ensure that they are able to better identify the “right type of candidate.”
Richard Hardiman was on the panel that was responsible for appointing Crichton.
He said that those on the panel felt Crichton had been the “strongest” candidate out of the final people that they saw. “It wasn’t that we brought some body in to fill the gap, regardless of who they were,” he said.
However, Hardiman admitted that the job description had been “written in such a way that it did not attract the most appropriate candidate” and explained that it was now necessary to “look at the type of applicant that was attracted by the job description last year and tweak it so that it attracts someone that job description suits better.”
Iwu too admitted failures in the recruitment process. He stated that the advertised job description had perhaps been “too vague” and would be “tightened” in the next advertisement.
