With the retirement of our director of religious education, Beryl A., I have been making some big plans for our children’s programming next year. I consulted with staff, the members of the RE-Vision Task Force, and the RE Action Team, as well as the human resources committee and many others as we discussed what type of structure and staffing would make the most sense for a time of transition next year. This is our plan, and we hope you will spread the word!
We are keeping the roles of youth program coordinator and nursery supervisor essentially the same, with some additional hours. We are increasing the nursery supervisor, a role currently filled by Samima, to a year-round position so that we can better provide consistent child care every Sunday, including in the summer. Our youth program coordinator role (YPC), currently filled by Nate Clark, who is also our ministerial intern, will continue unchanged.
We are increasing the weekly hours of our communications coordinator, Bethany R., from 16 to 24, so that she can support the many database and administrative needs that go along with our religious education programs, as well as giving her more time to improve our overall communications, including the website.
We are creating a new role, the children’s program manager, to oversee and run our children’s programming for grades K–8. The children’s program manager (CPM) will have a parallel but somewhat larger set of responsibilities as the youth program coordinator. We hope you will spread the word! We think this role would be a great fit for someone in a teaching position or paraprofessional who is looking to work with children and families in a creative and supportive environment.
We are moving the director-level responsibilities for the religious education program to our director of community engagement, Meagan C. She will move from 32 hours (⅘ time) to 40 hours (full time). That increased time will be spent collaborating with RE leadership and setting the vision, priorities, and goals of Follen’s programming for children and youth. Meagan was raised UU and has experienced many of the traditional UU RE curriculums, and she also has a background in curriculum development and program management. Community engagement isn’t just for adults—it’s for people of all ages, and families too! Ultimately, to use some HR-speak, the “FTEs” or amount of staffing hours we put toward RE will be essentially unchanged, but instead of a full-time DRE overseeing many part-time staff, we will have a full-time DCE overseeing many part-time staff.
The children’s program manager and the youth program coordinator will report to directly to Meagan C. as director of community engagement. She will supervise and direct their day to day work, and she will supervise and direct their day-to-day work, with the religious education support staff and volunteers reporting to the CPM. We all know how effective, organized, and fun it is to work with Meagan on Follen community events and happenings, and now our RE staff and parents and children will also get to enjoy her warm and thoughtful leadership! I am grateful Meagan was open to increased responsibilities, and I hope we can all support her as she lives into her new and larger role.
We aren’t sure if this is the staffing structure we will keep forever; it is the staffing structure that feels right for right now! We are grateful to the many volunteers and staff who are shifting their thinking and roles to try out this new way of doing things. Please give a big thank you to our human resources committee: Alison H., Jackie F., and Steph C. They did a huge amount of work this year as we figured out this plan!
View the updated staffing chart.
—Rev. Claire