TRAVERSE CITY -- A department head at Northwestern Michigan College was forced out for alleged insubordination and a lack of honesty and judgment, according to school documents.
Bill Hendry, the community college's former executive director of human resources, resigned in October after a flurry of memorandums between him and his boss about his alleged inability to complete a project and to conform to changes at NMC, among other issues.
Hendry is set to receive a 10-week severance package worth about $25,000 in salary and benefits.
Hendry could not be reached for comment Wednesday, and college officials refused to discuss the situation.
Hendry's personnel file contained NMC's allegations against him. The Record-Eagle reviewed the file under the Michigan Freedom of Information Act.
A memo dated Sept. 2, 2008, from Cathy Jones, NMC vice president of finance and administration, outlined a list of problems with Hendry's performance: He continued to refer to a former council to the president in verbal and written communication, despite it being replaced last year by a group of college vice presidents; he sent out a memo before Jones reviewed it; he failed to complete a data collection project about the college's workforce and had a subordinate work on it, despite being instructed to do the job himself; and he failed to review the college's human resources policy regarding payroll when asked.
Problems with Hendry amounted to more than miscommunication, Jones said, but she refused to elaborate.
"What you see in the file is the essence of the issue," she said.
Jones set deadlines for the payroll policy review and the data collection project, and warned Hendry his job was in jeopardy if he did not meet the deadlines and "begin performing in a more strategic manner," records show.
Hendry replied in a Sept. 5 memo.
His continued referral to the former council to the president came from 10 years of habit, he did not understand that his memo required prior review and he believed the data collection project was not a priority, according to Hendry's response.
"Your comments of having me understand my position with NMC is in jeopardy if I cannot supply this data by the given due dates and if I don't begin performing in a more strategic manner went well beyond a 'wake up call' for me," Hendry wrote to Jones.
Jones replied in a Sept. 23 memo and discussed her concerns over Hendry's alleged lack of honesty, lack of judgment and insubordination. It "brings into question (Hendry's) ability to lead the HR department at NMC," she wrote.
Hendry was given the option to resign and he did so on Oct. 6. He earned a $95,718 annual salary.
Hendry since started a human resources consulting firm in Traverse City, Bill Hendry Consulting.
