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