Thursday, August 29, 2013

Self-Inflicted

I was at a meeting the other day where the basketweavers brainstormed about ways to get the basketweaving majors to feel like part of a group based on the major.  It's a nice thing, to feel part of a group.  I get that. 

Folks suggested we have an evening once a week where faculty and students got together in a lounge to chat about books and read, since we all read anyway.

And there were suggestions that we should do programs elsewhere where we get together to talk about books.

And we could have a potluck or picnic.

And so on.


It's not that any of these ideas are bad in themselves, but that I've been around long enough to not want to promise that faculty will show up for things where I'll be one of two faculty to show up, and I sure didn't want to be there.

I see our students doing lots of good stuff, but I have my doubts that most of them have time to spend an hour or two a week (or whatever) hanging out in the lounge area.  A few will, of course. 

And, of course, I want to say, for every hour that someone suggests I should do an additional X, I'd like them to tell me what I can drop from my duties to make the time work out, since I already have a full time job, and I get tired, and so on.

I tried not to rain on the parades at the meeting though.  But gosh, I felt like a fogey.


I worked on my last syllabus and calendar yesterday, and now they're all in at least rough shape.  Today, I'll work on making them more coherent, set up the web-based learning system thingies, and maybe even put in all the copies to get done.

In other news, I got GREAT news on the small grant proposal I wrote in summer (funded!), finished one important task for the basketweavers committee.  I feel like I'm finally getting THAT to the point where it makes sense for now.  I still have stuff to do, but the stuff to do makes sense and can be done.  If that makes sense.

5 comments:

  1. If the person who is most enthusiastic about the idea is assigned to do the organizing, things usually work out (i.e. one meeting at most actually happens).

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  2. I know what you mean about feeling like a fogey....and I firmly believe that at some point "I'm tired" ought to be an acceptable reason to stop piling on more stuff. The human body has its limits, not to mention the human spirit.

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  3. Congrats on your grant being funded! Yay!

    As for the extra get togethers... Ugh. No. I really do not think professors should be asked to do one more thing. It's only one, but you're right -- what else should be neglected since we're taking on one more thing? It's a nightmare how these "one more things" keep piling up. That is the worst thing about this job -- the accumulating "one more things."

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  4. Anonymous5:15 PM

    congrantulations!

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  5. Yes, these "come in on the evenings and/or weekends" to do extra activities, however fun they may sound, is maddening when I'm not only juggling a fair bit of teaching but increased research and service expectations. I've gotten more than one of those requests, too.

    I want to ask how they think I can do that when I have an autistic teen and my co-parent works 4:30-8:30 across town? I can't even go out with the Stitch 'n' Bitch knitting group, fergawdsake! But I just say "sorry, I can't" and let it go. :-(

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