Wading in...

In our department we create a guide to the field for the first year students, which, if they enroll in the basic 101 course, they are required to buy. It is a nice little money maker for our department. Actually, it funds itself and various happenings geared toward the first year students. It contains essays written by graduate students about different aspects of the field. Every spring there is also an essay contest from which student essays are chosen to illustrate certain types of assignments. Last year I submitted an essay. This year the Cajun Princess and I are on the editing committee.
Just recently Kendall/Hunt began publishing this little volume for us, which is nice because now it actually looks legitimate. The editing committee consists of three members –usually one veteran and two new people. The structure cuts down on the tendency for committees to start over from the beginning. Although I’ve not worked closely with our veteran committee member (VCM), I’ve heard rumors of her, for lack of a better term, flakiness. The tricky thing is I also get the sense that she is fairly territorial. Last semester she was distracted by comps so we didn’t expect her to be on the ball getting this thing going. However, I did contact our Director to make sure we weren’t missing any deadlines. She reassured me that all was well. Early last week, out of the blue, the Director sends a departmental email stating that submissions for our writing contest can be dropped of in the departmental office.
CP and I emailed, “Quoi?” to each other, but decided that when our presence was required we would be notified. Then there was another request last Friday – Could one of the committee members give a brief description of our project (graduate submissions and the student essay contest) at the next required meeting of TAs? (Tomorrow)
Not knowing who would respond, I said that I would speak at the meeting. Then I emailed VCM and CP to set up a meeting (which is today). Here’s the deal…I don’t want to step on VCM’s toes, but this thing needs to get done in a timely fashion. So far there doesn’t seem to be a problem. In her last email she thanked me for organizing this meeting. I’m not sure if that means I need to step back now or not. It’s just that for the last two years the book has arrived late to the bookstore, and I think that has a little to do with things at our end. One thing I am good at is organizing meetings, delegating, and following up to make sure stuff gets done, which means I want to play that role on this committee. The meeting this afternoon will probably tell me all I need to know. Whether it’s politically savvy or not, I have an agenda for this meeting and other commitments mean I need to make sure we stick to it.