An adventure in applied science - IRRI books - International Rice ...

Establishing administrative policies 99today than when, addressing the same question at IRRI’s 10th Anniversarycelebration on 21 April 1972, I stated:“We consider that a challenging and stimulating atmosphere is maintainedat the Institute through a continual dialogue among scientists andadministrators alike emphasizing the exciting potential that exists for increasingthe yield and quality of rice in the tropics. Discussions at the two weeklyseminars, in the laboratories, in the corridors, and in experimental fields centeron this theme. Furthermore, at an early stage the results of the researchprogram demonstrated that although major advances were possible, theproblems engendered by a complex biological system are ever changing andtheir solutions challenge all the ingenuity that the scientist can muster.”The director and the associate director attended all seminars, symposia, andconferences, except of course when they were traveling, and thereby kept inclose touch with IRRI’s program. They not only attended the Thursday andSaturday seminars but chaired them and entered into the lively discussionsthat usually took place. The practice is continued today by the currentadministrators — as indeed are many of the other activities discussed in thissection.As is expected in any organization, differences among staff members arosefrom time to time. The director felt it was his duty to attempt to settle suchmisunderstandings, usually in private conversations with the individuals concernedand generally with beneficial results. I was perhaps overly frank in mycriticisms of the staff when I felt that improvements could be made (tact notbeing a strong point in my native state of Maine), but I was always honest andsincere. Moreover, once the difficulty was settled, the matter was dropped andnot mentioned again.Although staff morale was generally high, IRRI was not free from personnelproblems. The junior scientists, for instance, mostly Filipinos, had their complaints.They questioned their opportunities for advancement in an organizationin which foreign Ph Ds held most of the major posts. They formed a JuniorResearcher’s Association, which provided an opportunity to discuss theirproblems among themselves and to bring issues to the director.I met with the group onseveral occasions, as did McClung and others. It wasexplained that IRRI’s system of having only one to three senior scientists to adepartment- and those of international background — seriously limited theopportunities for research assistants to become senior scientists even if theycompleted their studies for the Ph D degree. The situation was unlike that ina university, where there were many individuals of professorial rank in adepartment. We pointed out to the research assistants that their salaries werebetter, on the average, than those at the College of Agriculture, that they hadunparalleled opportunities to conduct research with rice in association withprominent scientists, and that they could gain recognition by publishingpapers in Philippine scientific journals. Furthermore, their IRRI experiencequalified them for more important positions in other organizations and theywere always free to accept an offer if they so chose. Actually (as stated earlier),many of the former research assistants have gone on to better positions in both