So… one of us is going to be taking a month long hiatus from the blog, give or take. Starting tomorrow, where tomorrow is a day some number of weeks ago because thank Goodness for queues. You might not even notice.
Why, you ask?
Well, because her tenure packet was supposed to be due in two months.
But, she got an email saying that due to changes in administrative procedures, they’ve decided to make it due in one month instead. Oh, and the tenure packet guidelines are changing and we’re not really sure what they’re going to be, but they’re longer and more extensive than they were last year. I should get instructions in a couple of weeks.
Also, in a couple of weeks, grades are due, finals are next week, so… yeah, your life just sucks. Sucksssss. But really, 15 days to pull together a tenure packet shouldn’t affect anything negatively, no sir. Not at all. And that plan you had to send in those two papers that are almost done so you can put “under review” on your CV … piece of cake!
The other person in the department going up for tenure is actually going to be out of the country on a research thing (someplace where the internet is slow to non-existent) so ze may have difficulty getting in said packet without the instructions.
On the plus side, it’s only a month (starting tomorrow)… a month of no weekends, of not messing around on the internet. It’s not like it’s the last year of graduate school or anything. Surely I can be productive for a month. Nobody will notice me falling off the face of the planet for a month. All those decisions about my personal/family life… surely someone else can make them. The CSA starting this month? Well, someone else can process the vegetables… I can kill myself for a month.
Sigh. I’m too old for this. Maybe I should just give up and focus on the damn packet and not worry about anything else.
And I hate them all. One should not give such short notice on something like this. I had things planned out pretty nicely with coauthors’ promises and other things set up. But now, well, life is just going to suck.
It’s been a couple weeks now. Did you notice I was gone? Did you miss me? Do you feel sorry for me? ‘Cuz I gotta say I feel sorry for me. Verrrra sorry.
#2 feels extra sorry for you, too, and thinks that your administrators should be run out of town on a rail.
Grumpy Rumblings (of the formerly untenured) 
May 10, 2011 at 6:04 am
That is a lot of work to get done in a short period of time.
But…think of how great you will feel when it is all done. I am excited for you because all of this will be out of the way and then it will be summer!
Congrats on the tenure- once it is filled in and submitted, does that mean you have tenure? Or does it require some crazy amount of approvals??
Good luck, now get back to work!
May 10, 2011 at 6:05 am
crazy approvals
May 10, 2011 at 8:11 am
Good luck to you…what a nightmare!
May 10, 2011 at 8:41 am
Thanks!
May 10, 2011 at 8:38 am
Hey, how’d our administrators get to your school to mess up your processes? It sounds EXACTLY like what they do to us all the time, except they do it with gen ed proposals or assessment reports. Anywho, that indeed sucks that they’d change the rules and the timing of the portfolio. :(
May 10, 2011 at 8:40 am
Rumor has it the state governor is on a mission to make our lives individually miserable.
May 10, 2011 at 9:03 am
Agree with #2, except that that idea is too good for them. Tar and feathers also spring to mind.
May 10, 2011 at 5:19 pm
#2 actually said some stuff about calling the AAUP and checking on lawsuit situations…
May 10, 2011 at 9:28 am
Good luck! What a nightmare! Sounds like the administration will run into trouble, too (for example, what are they going to do about your colleague?) Your voice will be missed for this period.
May 10, 2011 at 11:44 am
Whenever situations like this arise, I always think back to this calvin and hobbs cartoon and smile. It’s one of my favorites:
http://members.shaw.ca/dlazechk02/weekdayleafcollection5.html
May 10, 2011 at 5:20 pm
HA! It’s funny because it’s something-like-true.
May 10, 2011 at 12:16 pm
So when I get frustrated with my work in a non-profit, I can tell myself, “At least you don’t work in academia!” right?
And of course, we miss you. We are devastated. And we’re still glad we don’t work in academia!
May 10, 2011 at 5:21 pm
Some days we wonder why we work in academia… try not to be too devastated. The blog continues to roll on for your viewing pleasure!
May 10, 2011 at 1:06 pm
Ugh, and best of luck!! :)
May 10, 2011 at 5:21 pm
Thanks.
May 10, 2011 at 5:48 pm
It will all be worth it in the end… That is my mantra when doing something totally sucky. It will be worth it in the end.
Good luck!
May 10, 2011 at 5:51 pm
It better be!
May 10, 2011 at 7:13 pm
Urgh.
Is it just me, or does what sounds like it’s likely just a dumb and annoying administrative move leave your department/university vulnerable to charges of underhanded dealings (and/or vulnerable to angry internal politics) were, heaven forbid, they to reach a decision unfavorable to you?
The incompetence of (many of the) faculty who land in administrative roles never ceases to amaze me.
May 10, 2011 at 7:28 pm
Definitely not just you.
May 10, 2011 at 7:57 pm
Must be something in the air…there is a lot of unreasonableness going around at my place of work, too. *grumble, grumble* Just focus on the basics now: eat, hydrate, sleep.
May 10, 2011 at 7:58 pm
and grumpy rumbling!
May 11, 2011 at 12:21 am
That and the husband job loss situation, both?
One time I came up for tenure they forgot to send my packet out for outside review despite my continuing to ask about it … then it turned out I was supposed to send it out myself, and pick the reviewers … ! … at the last minute …
May 11, 2011 at 5:31 am
That is insane. I’ve never heard of such a thing.
May 11, 2011 at 4:03 pm
Not in the Midwest, where people are not as 100% descarados as in some other places.
May 11, 2011 at 7:40 pm
Correct.
May 12, 2011 at 8:59 am
What @Comrade PhysioProf said. It is crunch time and you need to get your priorities straight. Delegate or drop all the rest. Good luck!
When you are running the place, you can get rid of the dummies and make smarter decisions.