Keep mouth shut or...?

[clean]

IF the deadline looms, and nothing is done, THEN when you have little time for the meetings, SEVERAL will be called.

A 'heads up' is not tattling. 
But Im not expert. I am of the opinion that we should work with ethical people who do what is supposed to be done, and not just the minimum requirement.  Therefore I have little tolerance for idiots and assholes. 
So IF you think that this is 'tattling' dont bitch and complain when someone finally decides that the deadline is near and nothing more can be postponed to do hours of work in the day or 2 left. 

It is YOUR time that you should be concerned about.

Finally, IF you are on a committee with a bad reputation, how does THAT help your CV?

[paddington_bear]

Maybe they are "committee chair" for the same reason. It looks good on the CV. So, sounds like you are both on the same page!

I doubt that being the chair of a tiny task force that's part of a small committee holds any more cache than just being a member. They're worth about the same, I think! But regardless.....Just do your job!!

[paddington_bear]

Ive always  insisted on being on committees that do stuff, but if I fall on one that doesnt, and Im  not the chair, then I just learn not to care. And  sometimes a normally consequential committee may just have little work just because of the luck of the draw.

Also ocassionally someone will do something with the so called useless advisory report. It probably had to be the rare case of someone  wanting to push the report, and then having all stakeholders agree with the reccomendations. Ive seen it happen exactly once in 23 years, and yes I was part of that.

Yes, learning not to care is the thing. I haven't been on this committee before - and honestly I didn't know any of these committees existed or what they actually accomplished - so I think I'm still trying to learn exactly what their purpose or what the expectations are from the perspective of the university system administration.

[mleok]

If I wasn't the chair of the committee, and the goals of the committee were not a priority for me, I would not intervene.

[fizzycist]

I think this may be a lesson to only sign up for service commitments that you feel passionate about. There is too much to do in this job. Signing up for stuff because maybe it will look good on your CV is not a path to career fulfillment.

Of course you can always get assigned a committee that sucks but is little work and you do it as a favor. In that case, I usually put my head down and try to get it done as quickly as possible.

But all that aside, if this is giving you anxiety I don't see the harm in contacting the 2 other ppl on your subcommittee and being proactive about scheduling the meeting.

I would not suggest to tattle-tale. Not only is it needlessly confrontational and non-collegial, but what even is the endgame there? Seems most likely to piss off a few ppl and generate more boring committee work for you.

[Ruralguy]

if you really want to do X, then just write to the other people and say "I am really excited to tackle [Issue X]. I think we can make some headway here. Would it be possible to schedule a meeting in the next few days?"

[paddington_bear]

I think this may be a lesson to only sign up for service commitments that you feel passionate about. There is too much to do in this job. Signing up for stuff because maybe it will look good on your CV is not a path to career fulfillment.

Of course you can always get assigned a committee that sucks but is little work and you do it as a favor. In that case, I usually put my head down and try to get it done as quickly as possible.

But all that aside, if this is giving you anxiety I don't see the harm in contacting the 2 other ppl on your subcommittee and being proactive about scheduling the meeting.

I would not suggest to tattle-tale. Not only is it needlessly confrontational and non-collegial, but what even is the endgame there? Seems most likely to piss off a few ppl and generate more boring committee work for you.

Point taken, but it's not like the committee is a lifetime commitment. If I want to be on it next year (which I don't. And I hope to be on sabbatical for a semester anyway) I have to reapply. So it's not about career fulfillment. It really is, "I need more service and this came up."

[clean]

"I need more service and this came up."

Please dont take this personally.  It is a vent, more than a criticism of you.

This last statement, though, is evidence that I hope that I dont work with those with this attitude. It is saying, bluntly, "What is the minimum I need to do to LOOK like I have met the requirements, without doing any real work to ACTUALLY meet the requirements". 

"I need more service".... Why?  This is an indication that such a coworker is NOT doing sufficient service in the first place.  Why would I want to have such a 'slacker' in my department?

"and this came up".   Something that does not require that I actually lend my expertise, or be an active part of the local community... as evidenced by the initial post asking essentially, "should I contribute in any way to alert the higher committee chair that this part of the group is failing to contribute?" 


Again, this is not a criticism of the op personally, but a reflection of what I am seeing more and more at my own place where especially untenured faculty are gaming the system to maximize the 'check marks' without actually contributing to the faculty community.  They say nothing in meetings for fear that they will offend someone who will later vote on their tenure, without realizing that some of us are now voting against them BECAUSE they said nothing and made not a single contribution.  Why should we offer a job for life to such silent slackers? 

It seems to me that too many people are doing only what is best for their instant gratification, and not what is best for the group.  No one seems to remember 'the golden rule' of 'how would you like to be treated?'   (IF you were the overall chair, would you rather know that there is a problem while their is time to correct it, or be blindsided when it is too late?"  But hell, what do I know?)   

only sign up for service commitments that you feel passionate about.

That is good advice.  But I fear that it is being misinterpreted to mean  "you only have to do your best on tasks that you care about".  IF you sign up for ANY committee you should do your utmost and do your best an every task, not just the ones that you care about.  Clearly, you have limited time, and you should concentrate your energies on things you care about, but that does not mean that anyone should sign up 'because something came up" and 'they needed a committee' on paper with no desire to actually DO anything, much less your best efforts on the task volunteered to undertake.

Rant over. 
Good luck on your career and your sabbatical. 

[Ruralguy]

I think Fizzycist merely meant "be selective, but be proactive." That is, if you take a long view of service, you can plan around things that interest you, and sign up for those, rather than just let yourself be carried onto something you don't really care about. I don't think this means, or that he meant "If you get stuck on the party planning committee, just plan sucky parties and be done with."

[paddington_bear]

I think Fizzycist merely meant "be selective, but be proactive." That is, if you take a long view of service, you can plan around things that interest you, and sign up for those, rather than just let yourself be carried onto something you don't really care about. I don't think this means, or that he meant "If you get stuck on the party planning committee, just plan sucky parties and be done with."

I chose the committee because the title and its purpose DO reflect one of my interests. But you can't tell how a committee is run or organized just from the title.

[paddington_bear]

"I need more service and this came up."

Please dont take this personally.  It is a vent, more than a criticism of you.

This last statement, though, is evidence that I hope that I dont work with those with this attitude. It is saying, bluntly, "What is the minimum I need to do to LOOK like I have met the requirements, without doing any real work to ACTUALLY meet the requirements". 

"I need more service".... Why?  This is an indication that such a coworker is NOT doing sufficient service in the first place.  Why would I want to have such a 'slacker' in my department?

"and this came up".   Something that does not require that I actually lend my expertise, or be an active part of the local community... as evidenced by the initial post asking essentially, "should I contribute in any way to alert the higher committee chair that this part of the group is failing to contribute?" 


Again, this is not a criticism of the op personally, but a reflection of what I am seeing more and more at my own place where especially untenured faculty are gaming the system to maximize the 'check marks' without actually contributing to the faculty community.  They say nothing in meetings for fear that they will offend someone who will later vote on their tenure, without realizing that some of us are now voting against them BECAUSE they said nothing and made not a single contribution.  Why should we offer a job for life to such silent slackers? 

It seems to me that too many people are doing only what is best for their instant gratification, and not what is best for the group.  No one seems to remember 'the golden rule' of 'how would you like to be treated?'   (IF you were the overall chair, would you rather know that there is a problem while their is time to correct it, or be blindsided when it is too late?"  But hell, what do I know?)   

only sign up for service commitments that you feel passionate about.

That is good advice.  But I fear that it is being misinterpreted to mean  "you only have to do your best on tasks that you care about".  IF you sign up for ANY committee you should do your utmost and do your best an every task, not just the ones that you care about.  Clearly, you have limited time, and you should concentrate your energies on things you care about, but that does not mean that anyone should sign up 'because something came up" and 'they needed a committee' on paper with no desire to actually DO anything, much less your best efforts on the task volunteered to undertake.

Rant over. 
Good luck on your career and your sabbatical.

One, I'm not a slacker. (If I were, someone not doing their job on a committee wouldn't/couldn't bother me.) The reason I need more service is that I held an interim administrative position for the past two years, so my other service was lacking.  I don't think my admin position is going to help me if I want to be promoted to full professor, so I needed more "service" positions.  And, obviously you don't know me, but NO ONE would ever say that I don't contribute to the faculty community in terms of service work (or whatever). Quite the opposite. Again, that's why I'm frustrated when other people take on responsibilities that they don't actually fulfill.

[clean]

Again, that's why I'm frustrated when other people take on responsibilities that they don't actually fulfill.

In this then, we are very much alike.  I will reiterate, to remember the golden rule to treat others as you would like to be treated. IF you were chair of the overall task, not just this subcommittee, would you want a heads up or not?  Let that guide you.

I dont know your place (or you, as you said), but I would think that time as an interim administrator Would count toward service!  It would certainly not be a big zero on your promotion package!  In fact, I would like to think that it would be a positive! 

[paddington_bear]

Again, that's why I'm frustrated when other people take on responsibilities that they don't actually fulfill.

In this then, we are very much alike.  I will reiterate, to remember the golden rule to treat others as you would like to be treated. IF you were chair of the overall task, not just this subcommittee, would you want a heads up or not?  Let that guide you.

I dont know your place (or you, as you said), but I would think that time as an interim administrator Would count toward service!  It would certainly not be a big zero on your promotion package!  In fact, I would like to think that it would be a positive!

You would think so, wouldn't you? But that's not the message I've been getting.

[Ruralguy]

Administration is almost always compensated. Normsl service is almost  always only comprnsated in the sense that you are expected to do it as par of normal duties. So if somene got comprnsated for admin and then had no other service, i might actually have a little bit of an issue with it, especially if there long periods without admin.

[waterboy]

Even if compensated, if someone steps in as interim, then it ought to be counted at least somewhat for service.