Gabe Soumakian sets goals and makes them happen. As assistant superintendent for human resources in Burbank Unified School District, Soumakian has proven he is an extraordinary visionary. His high expectations for himself and others has led to the implementation of new and innovative personnel and administrative practices.
For this as well as his exceptional leadership accomplishments in ACSA, Soumakian has been named the association’s 2008 Personnel/Human Resources Administrator of the Year.
When the Burbank USD Board of Education updated the district’s goals last summer, the center of each of the goals was student learning. Soumakian made it a major goal for human resources to support student learning by ensuring the district hires great candidates for certificated and classified staff. Soumakian emphasized that he is proud of his HR staff, who take pride in providing great customer services to all sites, departments and the public. Soumakian stated, “Our staff understands that they indirectly have an impact on student learning by assisting our sites with all personnel matters.”
The HR department recently completed a credential audit to make certain each teacher has the appropriate credential for each subject matter they teach and that teachers are also highly qualified under No Child Left Behind. The district has made great strides in the past three years in achieving nearly 100 percent success in both areas.
“Recruiting from a strong pool of candidates provides each administrator the capacity to choose the right match for their site or department,” Soumakian said. “Human resources works with our administrators to not only hire the best but also monitors the evaluation process as a means to support a continuous improvement.”
When he took over the HR department in Burbank, site administrators were frustrated with the slow and inconsistent service and poorly communicated procedures. In his efforts to ensure the district recruits and retains the very best employees, Soumakian simplified application processes, using Web-based technology. He also created a computerized position control system, allowing administrators to monitor the hiring process from their sites.
He established relationships with universities and other school districts, and has held successful job fairs in his recruitment efforts.
He has improved communication with employees through such innovations as a redesigned HR Web site, an employee handbook, and quarterly newsletters. He has also done an outstanding job of working with the instructional division to organize and facilitate professional development for administrators in the area of the employee evaluation process. And he has built relationships with associations to become a trusted and knowledgeable negotiator.
“Getting the right people to join the team is the most important decision we make as leaders,” Soumakian said. “In the past two years we have retained a higher percentage of our teaching staff. Our staff in HR has worked closely with principals and other administrators to open positions as soon as a separation is accepted. The electronic position control system is designed to streamline the hiring process, allowing the interviews and official offers to be completed expeditiously. Our greatest challenge is to refine this system and provide ongoing training to our administrators.”
Soumakian has been actively involved with ACSA at the charter, region and state levels, just recently completing a three-year term as chair of the state Member Services Committee. Under his watch, ACSA has experienced its highest membership to date.
“There are two main reasons why I joined ACSA. One is the great professional development opportunities, such as the academies, and second is to network with other administrators in my field to share knowledge and experiences,” Soumakian said. “Our work in education is difficult enough as it is, and at critical times we need to turn to other administrators for support and seek best practices from the field.”
Soumakian’s Region 15 Human Resources Council is one of the most active in the state and meets regularly throughout the year. The council exchanges ideas through these meetings and uses the AirSet online group collaboration system as a communication tool for members to reach out and survey on issues as they surface.
“This is an extremely supportive group that is very responsive and works well together,” Soumakian said. “This is a great example of how ACSA membership has supported me in my career.”
As chair of the Member Services Committee, Soumakian and the other representatives tackled many issues. Through their efforts, the “ACSA membership is everyone’s business” campaign grew wings. In addition, the committee worked hard to reach out and meet the needs of the Generation X members and get them actively involved in ACSA.
Soumakian said being recognized as Personnel/HR Administrator of the Year is a measure of his contributions to education and ACSA, but also is a way of sharing those efforts.
“There are a number of other ACSA members who make a difference every day in the lives of students, staff and our profession who are deserving of recognition,” he said. “I believe it is important to celebrate with our colleagues at the local charter and region, as well as the state level. Building relationships and working as a team is essential and fulfilling, considering the fact that most of us spend our waking hours with our colleagues at work.”
Each of ACSA’s 19 Administrators of the Year will be featured in EdCal through Nov. 3. They will be formally honored during ACSA’s 2008 Leadership Summit, to be held Nov. 6-8 in San Diego. For more information or to register, visit ACSA Online at www.acsa.org or contact the Educational Services Department at (800) 608-ACSA or (650) 692-4300.