"It is impossible to be a top-line manager and administrator and mentor and researcher and writer and outreach officer and IT expert and online instructor and pedagogical innovator and recruiter and teacher and marker and external examiner and press pundit and grant bidder and editor."
Universities are in trouble, and it’s not just money we’re talking about. They are living through something of a crisis of confidence, even of trust and faith. More and more, I find myself, and my col...
It's okay to pick just twelve of those things to do well.
I have thoughts on this but will be spending the rest of the week grading papers, editing student writing, and managing interns.
I reckon the world’s most generic training held at an inconvenient time could iron out 98% of the problems in each of these
This is correct. I am definitely not an IT expert.
The bit about wellness initiatives made me lol - we were recently offered access to a wellness app which will apparently 'help you manage your time better and be more productive'. Because that's the problem 🙄
I'm so grateful that my partner is a community college instructor instead of a university professor because as outrageous as even community college expectations can be, at least he largely gets to focus on the students.
The author concludes that sentence by saying it is impossible to be all these things "and look after your own wellbeing," which is true. But also, it's just impossible to be all these things.
Things I find joy/satisfaction in: researcher, writer, mentor, teacher, proposal writer. Things I am willing to do: manager, administrator, external examiner, editor. Things I am not: other things on the list, especially press pundit. I think being in academia is a great job. But it's a job.
And at some American universities, the knowledge that the money is there… for sports… is demoralizing.