[foundation-board] Engaging a PA/Admin Assistant: Nearing a Decision

Mon Jul 12 09:21:04 UTC 2010

On 12 July 2010 09:31, Ian Brown <ian.brown at oii.ox.ac.uk> wrote:
> Congratulations Rufus on the JISC funding.
>
> It would be strongly preferable for this funding to flow from JISC->OKFN->Rufus (with appropriate contracts in place between the parties). I'm surprised that JISC are not insisting on this. Would it be problematic for them?

Erm, the JISC contract is not with the OKF. Remember JISC can only
fund HEFCE institutions though non-HEFCE institutions can partner. In
this case OKF is partnering but my role was as a subcontractor to the
principal insitution (university of cambridge, cheminformatics). The
reason this did not go through the OKF was a) I am still a JRF at Emma
until October b) they needed a named person for project manager -- it
could not be an org.

> Sorry I missed the discussion about a PA (which sounds entirely sensible), but why would s/he be engaged by you rather than OKFN?

a) it was about credit checks (it was easier to arrange credit checks
for me as an individual) b) the OKF not needing to engage them as an
employee (as they would be engaged personally)

I am completely open to the Board's opinions here and am happy to do
this either way.

>> * Is late-middle-aged with 2 grown up children (youngest of which is
>> at university)
>
> Age and family status are of course entirely irrelevant to a hiring decision - and it would be illegal discrimination for either to play any part in the decision.

Indeed and I am aware of that -- perhaps I should have simply left it
out of the summary. However, I think that it was useful to give some
background context to e.g. why they wished to work part-time as
opposed to full-time etc -- age/family status is in no way relevant to
a decision but it does give context as to why they were seeking this
kind position and those motivations may be relevant in a decision.

Rufus
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