Road Trip Home, Part 5

We went through the Lolo Pass (which I recommend for a beautiful drive) to Missoula, where we visited the Smoke Jumper Center.  That's the regional training and staging center for the people who parachute into rugged backcountry to fight forest fires.

Some pictures!

Road Trip Home, Part 4

We spent the night in Pendleton, OR, and the next day, started the morning with a tour of the Pendleton Woolen Mill there.  It's way cool.  (Fortunately, my Mom and I both like going through factory tours and such.)

 

After the factory store, we went to the Tamastslikt Cultural Heritage Center, which was fantastic.  They only let you take photos outside, so I can't begin to show you what a neat place it is.  But trust me on this, if you go to Pendleton, OR, you should go to the Tamastslikt Cultural Heritage Center!

 

 

Road Trip Home, Part 3

We drove further east in the Columbia River Gorge, having lunch at a beautiful spot.

Looking West (since we were on the north side)

Looking East (since we were on the north side)

 

 

Then we went to the Maryhill Museum, which is sort of weird.  Not as weird as the Sir John Soames museum, but weird.  There are things from the former Queen of Romania, a display of mannequins used after WWII to display the latest French fashions, some American Indian artifacts, and some modern art.  Eclectic to say the least.

 



Out of Contract Conflicts

The other day, a friend of mine got a desperate email from one of her advisees.  The advisee had been in email contact with the campus administrative folks, who had advised the student that he needed to meet with his advisee to take care of a problem as soon as possible.  And so the advisee followed directions and contacted my friend, his advisor.

The thing is, we faculty folks are "out of contract" for the summer. 

Of course, the student has no knowledge of that.  But the administrative folks should. 

On the other hand, I'm willing to bet that at some point, an administrative person sent a student to the campus advising office (people who are under contract all year long, and paid accordingly) during a summer non-contract period and then some faculty advisor complained long and loudly about not being consulted.

The "out of contract" thing is weird.  We do some sorts of work, and we use our offices and other university resources just as we do when we're under contract.  And our promotions and such depend utterly on the work we complete during the time we're out of contract.  On the other hand, most of us tend to resist doing the more onerous parts of the job, which includes problem advising.

I guess I'd suggest that we be a lot more open with students.  The administrative folks should copy the faculty advisor on an email which advises the student to contact the advising office because the faculty member is out of contract, but then they can talk to the faculty member once the contract period begins.  Or something.