Week Long Orientation

...is finally over.

Planning orientation is just one of the responsibilities of the AD position, but it's probably the biggest. It's been an interesting ride putting this all together. There have been a few bumps in the road, but overall it went pretty well.

No one who has been around me for the last week would believe I'm about to say this, but...I almost wish that this was a two-year appointment so I could do it again. But, the thing is, now that I've done it, I know what needs to be done. Sure I can pass on information to the next AD to help them next year, but until you've been through it, it's kind of inconceivable.

About the bumps.

The largest bump really had nothing to do with me; and, there is nothing left to do about it except suffer through it.

The smaller bump I wish I would have anticipated. As we worked through the week to discuss ways to use their assigned texts, we neglected an important aspect of orientation. We didn't really give them a clear statement about our departmental philosophy. In a way it was inevitable. With a new Director and changes in the works, our departmental philosophy is shifting. I did my best to re-iterate the things that I think are essential and will remain the same. the new TAs should understand the heart of our program. It's just the message could have been clearer and stronger. The Director and I already discussed some of this. I just wish there would have been time to figure out the changes before the new TAs began. There was just no way for the new Director to know all of that before this year.

I may have asked for all of this taking on the AD position in such a transitional period. All I can say is that I definitely deserver more money for this.

Well Laid Plans

I don't know if I've mentioned it here or not, but the DH and I have been sharing a car all summer. It's partly an effort to save a little gas money, but also because his car is not in the best of shape.
It's the other reason I've often been stuck at home.

One benefit of having just one car is that I get to hone my skills at planning the most efficient sequence of accomplishing errands. It does my little Virgo heart good when I can make the first stop on my list the farthest from home and then work my way back. It makes both the DH and I really happy when we can use one car without having to do too many drop-offs and pick-ups.

Putting the finishing touches on the new teaching assistant orientation has required me to spend most of my time this week on campus. This hasn't led to the most efficient drop-off/pick-up schedule. So, for today I purposefully planned NOT to go to campus, because the DH had to work and there would be less running around if I didn't have to go to campus. Now...I actually have quite a bit to left to do on campus, but I figured not going there today would be okay because I could spend all day tomorrow there. I would go to campus around 8:ish do all my office chores, walk down the hall to my 10am meeting, then spend the afternoon running errands on campus while I waited for books to arrive.** After the books arrived I would head home and the DH could go to work.

It was a pretty damned good plan, if I do say so myself. As you can probably guess, that is not how my day is going to work. Nope. How do you thoroughly destroy such a beautiful plan? Move the 10am meeting to 11am and hold it off campus as opposed to just down the hall. Oh...and it's not just off campus, it's the equivalent of all the way home.

It wouldn't be so bad except that I really do have enough stuff to do that I need to go to campus before the meeting...and, because I have to wait for the books, I have to return to campus after the meeting. yeah. There goes my well planned day.


**Don't get me started on why I need to wait for the books. Just don't.

Moving on...

It's been incredibly hard to get back to work this week. By back to work, I mean back to grading. I took a hiatus just before orals, but now my grading jail is looking pretty formidable. It is of course just the tip of the iceberg of "Things I Have to Do." And, as usual, because I have so many "Things I Have to Do" I am rapidly developing a list of "Things I Want to Do." The bad part of this process is that I usually fill the "TIWTD" list with items that are actually productive. They just aren't what needs to be done at this moment.

It doesn't help that I bought a new planner at Staples last night, which means all I really want to do is fill it with stuff. It's a 2008-2009 academic planner. Why do I need an extra planner when I love my QPB Calendar of Days? Well, during my hiatus from posting, I did this crazy thing and applied for an administrative position for next year. It is a position designed for a graduate student, but has quite a few responsibilities--hence, the need for its own planner. Next year the position has the potential to be even more responsibility because it is an "Assistant To" position and the person holding that position next year is brand new to our University. Changes will be made, feathers will be ruffled, and I will get to be in the middle of it all.

The thing is, I really wanted this position this year. It is a position that always looks good on a CV, but the ability to discuss being a part of this transition in an interview will also be very beneficial. The word from those, who have held this position in the past, and are currently on The Market is that everyone wants to know about this position. They feel like this position got them interviews.

Oh, I wont' be on the market for a while yet, but it is good to know I will look good on paper when I get there.

Getting the Ball Rolling

Although I still have to fill out the official paperwork, the final nail dropped in my committee coffin yesterday. I got up the nerve to ask the last member to work with me; and, he agreed. When I sat down last week to start putting together the my exam lists everything still felt somehow unreal. Watching Dr. Chat create a folder with my name on it and put it in another folder titled “Exams” was like feeling the puzzle pieces lock together. Although it is nerve wracking—like that moment when the rollercoaster just begins to move slowly up the track, it also brought me a sense of calm and determination. I’m done agonizing over who to work with and ready to get to work.

About the agonizing, I’ve known who I should work with since last spring. I delayed asking people to be on my committee because I worried about personality conflicts and stories I heard from other students. My friends who are taking their exams this semester all counsel me cryptically to “choose your committee carefully,” without giving me any concrete advice about how to do that. It’s frustrating, because really I don’t have a choice about who I’m working with – our department just isn’t that big.

Unlike some of my friends, I don’t know exactly what my dissertation topic is, so I’ve constructed my comprehensive exam lists using the theories that I know I want to work with in my dissertation. That means I have to work with Dr. Belle (who will chair my committee) because she is passionate about one of my theory areas, Dr. Chat because he is the only one on the faculty who works with a particular theory, and Dr. Snarky because her work provides the intersection between the other two theories. I know there are personality conflicts between at least two of the members. I’m pretty sure that when it comes time to write for these folks I will be pulled in at least two different directions, but that is just the nature of the game. At some level, I have to believe that these people are adults who can figure out how to work together.

My concern now is that all my lists are theoretical, but that is a different post.

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.

Where the day goes...

It amazes me how quickly a day can fill up with "stuff." Currently my schedule should be a dream. I'm not teaching, and I should have Fridays off. Since I'm not so great at making myself work on Fridays I started to organize a study group. We were supposed to start tomorrow at 1:00pm. Then I remembered that I agreed to take job candidates out to lunch, which also meant that I should attend at least one of the two job talks scheduled for the afternoon. Since all of that meant getting to campus at 11:00am, I figured why not go early and get some publicity for the Writing Center done. (Walk all over campus putting up posters.) So, before I had the day off. Now I'll be on campus from about 8:30 - 3:00, which pretty much guarantees I won't be in the mood to study when I get home.

I have the sneaking suspicion that when I get into "the real world" service and administrative duties will operate in this way as well.

Normally I enjoy volunteering to take candidates out to lunch. I like to meet new people and hear their stories. However, this year my department is doing an amazing amount of hiring. There are three positions open right now and I believe there will be something like three more in the fall. Everyone is nuts. I'm not sure how many more job talks any of us can sit through. The good side of it all is that the department dynamic will change with the addition of so many new people. It won't have too much of an effect on my studies, but it will be good for the newer graduate students.