Well, I guess You're Just Screwed, Aren't You?

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

For seven years, my husband has taught part-time at our local university branch campus-- that’s on top of his other full-time job, mind you. He usually teaches two classes per quarter, but sometimes it’s been up to four.

Five years ago, the professor in that department suddenly died. It was very tragic and the whole drpartment was shaken. There was a scramble at the last minute to find instructors to cover her classes. That was the first time Hubby took four classes, but he figured in times like those, it was the right thing to do to help out despite the enormous stresses it would put on him.

But it hasn’t gotten any better. The next four years were the same way. THey would call him up at the last possible moment and beg him to cover for them. He taught four courses last quarter, and I thought he was going to drop from the exhaustion. Of course, anyone can tell you that you’re a fool if you expect recognition or a simple “thanks” when you save the day, but all Hubby wants is his phone calls returned.

Yesterday, Hubby was called to a meeting with the dean and the other instructors for this quarter. The quarter starts in four days. Hubby had called dozens of times, sent e-mails and left notes for someone to please let him know if he had classes this quarter. He got no response– not even, “We’ll have to get back to you.” Nothing-- complete silence until he’s called to this meeting. There, he discovers that they have three courses they’re trying to get instructors to cover and they turn to Hubby with pleading eyes.

One of the courses is in the middle of the day, meaning Hubby would have to leave his other job, go teach, and then return to work. He did it once before, during thd semester after the professor’s death, and as he told me later, he might have done it again if they’d given him time to prepare.

“Sorry, I can’t do the third class,” he told them. Panic ensued. “What are we going to do?” the associate dean pleaded. “It’s our most popular class!”

“I’m sorry,” Hubby told him, “but I have other obligations that I can’t drop on a moment’s notice.” I guess you’re just screwed by your own incompetence.

“Perhaps you could share it with someone,” the AD suggested.

Hubby shook his head. Apparently, this guy has no clue what that entails. Actually, he seems to have no idea what he’s doing. Hubby had to help him fill out some forms because after five years, the guy still doesn’t know what paperwork he needs to fill out.

Now, if it was only my Hubby being treated like this, I might think they didn’t like him and they were deliberately dragging their feet each quarter out of spite. But, no, other teachers spoke up and said that they were routinely given classes on only a few days notice.

Hubby said the dean sat there with a blank look on his face, listening to these complaints and could only say, “We’ll look into that.” Yeah, you know, 'cause he was totally unaware of the situation for the last five years.

Hubby checked with the campus bookstore. They told him that they no longer order enough books for everyone in the class because so many students buy their books online. It will take several weeks to get in more texts, so a number of his students aren’t even going to have books for a good portion of the quarter.

Sheesh!

2

You and your husband have my sympathies.

I work full-time for the research arm of a university and attend its undergraduate school part-time. If it helps any, the behavior you describe is not unusual here as well.

Mr. Lissa is brave to call them out on their behavior. Its not right to “guilt” a professional into something.

3

I’ll second what Mouse Maven said.

Good for him. And no, this kind of disorganization is not unusual in academic settings.

4

I have to add this:

In yesterday’s mail, we got the letter announcing the meeting he attended. It said there would be two meetings: August 24 and August 30.

It was postmarked August 29th.

5

Lissa, I work at a college and your story sure rings true to me. So many of the professors I know are intelligent, interesting, kind people who are about as organized as a soup sandwich. You get a group of them in a room together and the disorganization multiplies exponentially.

6

This is another example of organizations dumping administrative personnel to “Save Money”. Giving the jobs of 10 people to 2-3 underpaid administrative staff. The underpaid-overworked admins then tell the org. to “Fuck Off” and chaos results. Someone has to handle the details.
Yes, I was good at that, and yes, it happend to me.
Happens a lot with government jobs. DMV for example.

7

The professors’ and instructors’ disorganization I could understand, but we’re talking about the whole admin department here. I know the pressures on the clerical staff have to be really rough with all of the cutbacks, but I simply can’t find an excuse for the dean or the associate dean’s behavior.

It’s terribly, terribly rude to ignore repeated phone calls and e-mails. Even if all they could say is, “Sorry, we have no answers yet, but we’ll get back to you,” I’d be cool with it. Just don’t ignore a fellow professional like that.