University job titles cause confusion

An observation. The three finalists for the job of University of Iowa Vice President of Strategic Communications hold the following titles: “associate vice chancellor for university relations,” “interim vice president for university advancement and marketing” and “associate vice president for university communications.” Can anyone tell what any of these people do?

The United States has one vice president and some people think that's enough. We don't have associate or interim or chancellor or emeritus or chairs or a lot of other fancy titles that don't indicate what the job really consists of. I would think that Strategic Communications (as opposed to Tactical Communications) might very well begin by reviewing the organization chart for the UI and changing the job descriptions and titles to reflect the principal objectives of the positions.

The UI could probably use one of its professor emeritus positions in the English Department to do this. They might even develop a course in political science to perform this same service for federal, state and local governments as well.

Gordon Taylor

Anamosa