The present invention employs a master node for each job to be scheduled and in turn the master node distributes job start information and executable tasks to a plurality of nodes configured in a hierarchical node tree of a multinode job scheduling system. The status of the various tasks executing at the leaf nodes and other nodes of the tree report status back up the same hierarchical tree structure used to start the job, not to a scheduling agent but rather to the master node which has been established by the scheduling agent as the focal point, not only for job starting, but also for the reporting of status information from the leaf and other nodes in the tree.