In my brief foray into Twitter recently I found this piece on writing letters of recommendation in The Chronicle. Suffice it to say: yes.
But frankly most of the work that faculty do is unseen and/or undervalued at least in an immediate way (like, I answer a TON of email and no one gets promoted by doing email, but email translates, at least some of the time, into teaching and furthering research, which ARE valued).
I want to whine for a moment about meetings. (Apologies for the non-sequitur; I had my weekly night-of-bad-sleep last night, which I attribute to watching Madam Secretary immediately before bed and then spinning on all the meetings.) Note: it turns out I actually had a pre-existing label "all the meetings" which is suggestive of my thoughts about all the meetings.
Let's talk about the architecture of my week, shall we? Monday and Wednesday are my 'teaching days.' While theoretically I can work on my writing (briefly) those mornings, in practical terms, I am prepping, teaching, or meeting with students from 9:30-5. This Tuesday, as many Tuesdays, should be devoted to writing (morning) and course prep and admin (afternoon) but in practice is ALL THE MEETINGS. To wit: I have student appointment at 11:45, for a student whose schedule was tricky; followed by a conversation with a colleague whose class I observed yesterday in lieu of my own office hours/course prep time; followed by a program chair's meeting which I can't complain about really because it's the first of the year, but still; followed by a meeting with my three thesis advisees about their thesis work, including the student who has changed her topic--I kid you not--three times since September; followed by another (albeit short) midterm conference with a student who didn't schedule hers despite my passing around a physical sign up sheet in class multiple times. So, that's 11:45 am-5:00 pm of meetings. And when exactly am I supposed to get my WORK done?!
None of these meetings is alone a problem. And I don't think I've scheduled any meeting that could be handled differently (email, say). But man does it add up. And so when a colleague asks me to observe her class a second time even though I'd like to, that's two hours I will never ever get back. And when am I supposed to write that conference paper?
I am quite looking forward to Thurs and Fri, which are NO CAMPUS DAYS, and the only two in a row I will have for the foreseeable future. What I have realized is it is worth stacking my Tuesday in a horrific way in order to avoid campus entirely on Friday, because (a) travel time does add up and (b) my energy level is better.
But frankly most of the work that faculty do is unseen and/or undervalued at least in an immediate way (like, I answer a TON of email and no one gets promoted by doing email, but email translates, at least some of the time, into teaching and furthering research, which ARE valued).
I want to whine for a moment about meetings. (Apologies for the non-sequitur; I had my weekly night-of-bad-sleep last night, which I attribute to watching Madam Secretary immediately before bed and then spinning on all the meetings.) Note: it turns out I actually had a pre-existing label "all the meetings" which is suggestive of my thoughts about all the meetings.
Let's talk about the architecture of my week, shall we? Monday and Wednesday are my 'teaching days.' While theoretically I can work on my writing (briefly) those mornings, in practical terms, I am prepping, teaching, or meeting with students from 9:30-5. This Tuesday, as many Tuesdays, should be devoted to writing (morning) and course prep and admin (afternoon) but in practice is ALL THE MEETINGS. To wit: I have student appointment at 11:45, for a student whose schedule was tricky; followed by a conversation with a colleague whose class I observed yesterday in lieu of my own office hours/course prep time; followed by a program chair's meeting which I can't complain about really because it's the first of the year, but still; followed by a meeting with my three thesis advisees about their thesis work, including the student who has changed her topic--I kid you not--three times since September; followed by another (albeit short) midterm conference with a student who didn't schedule hers despite my passing around a physical sign up sheet in class multiple times. So, that's 11:45 am-5:00 pm of meetings. And when exactly am I supposed to get my WORK done?!
None of these meetings is alone a problem. And I don't think I've scheduled any meeting that could be handled differently (email, say). But man does it add up. And so when a colleague asks me to observe her class a second time even though I'd like to, that's two hours I will never ever get back. And when am I supposed to write that conference paper?
I am quite looking forward to Thurs and Fri, which are NO CAMPUS DAYS, and the only two in a row I will have for the foreseeable future. What I have realized is it is worth stacking my Tuesday in a horrific way in order to avoid campus entirely on Friday, because (a) travel time does add up and (b) my energy level is better.
I am looking in my calendar for a couple of days to plow through a paper & talk need to get done and yes. All the little things add up. today is similar, I have a little break before my next meeting, but not enough time for real deep work, so that may not happen at all today---and today is the only day I had "in my office" this week, (M/W clinic all day, Th/Fri traveling for a meeting that'll be non-stop with no breaks for my own work)
ReplyDeleteOh how the little things add up... some weeks I spend nearly all my paid hours on little things. But I am going gently green over here at the desirable notion of teaching on only two days, and knowing what they are. I have a 4 day a week contract largely because it was the ONLY way to keep my teaching on four days only, not five...
ReplyDeleteHi, Jane. Yeah, I hear you, and having taught at a SLAC before, I do know how lucky I am in this regard! In practical terms, I'm always on campus at minimum 3 days/week, usually 4. Rarely all 5...
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