The Venting Thread

[apl68]

Speaking from the administrative side--though not in academia--I often find it a struggle to get time without distractions in which I can concentrate on projects that require such concentration.  Because EVERYTHING seems to need your attention as The Boss.  I was distracted continually yesterday by minor (but unignorable) emergencies and non-emergencies.  And a couple of new projects that were dumped into my lap by patrons.  I had a busy and hectic day, and yet feel like I was farther behind by the time I went home than I was when I first came in.  The next couple of weeks are shaping up to be serious crunch time for me, though probably not for the staff.

[AvidReader]

My most recent school sent out a survey about summer teaching a few months ago, and one of the questions was something like, "Should faculty who perform unremunerated duties for the department during the summer months receive preference for summer teaching assignments?" I was a little startled by the question. Faculty should be paid for the work they do, not given an extra class, with all the extra work that entails, in order to receive adjunct peanuts.

In some situations, I would be tempted to reply to a request for summer work with my hourly fee--but I doubt that is actually possible for most people and at most places.

AR.

[permanent imposter]

Colleague of over 30 years just retired this Summer. Went in for routine gall bladder surgery, and while in the surgeon discovered an aggressive form of cancer in a nearby organ. Stage IV.

Shit.

I'm so sorry to hear that, jimbogumbo.

[clean]

AAAAHHHHHHH!!
My university chose TODAY to upload the new website design. It looks like they had NO faculty involvement.  The links "for faculty" are gone... Grades are due in a week! 

I went to the site today because a student's wife reported he testing positive for COVID and 'is not doing well'.  I wanted to find the CURRENT Covid policy (as it keeps changing!). 

THe SEARCH FUNCTION is inoperative! 


WHY TODAY???  CLasses end this week, so NEXT WEEK would have been a better time to TEST your system... (OR They would have had a WEEK to ACTUALLY TEST the damn thing before imposing it on the rest of us!!)

Idiots!

[clean]

This just in...

"Thank you for your feedback. The new search vendor is currently indexing the new site. Once that process is complete, the search will function properly. We are hoping by the end of the day but maybe tomorrow.

"


SO WHY would we Go LIVE in the last week of a summer term WHEN THE FUNCTIONS DONT YET WORK? 

[mamselle]

I'm sorry for your student. I hope he recovers.

M.

[clean]

2 1/2 hours ago I emailed my chair and associate dean for a copy of the current COVID policy.  NO reply.  Ninety minutes  ago I emailed the question to the provost's office.

NO reply.

I wonder IF they can find it without a functioning search function?


WHY go LIVE before the VENDORs have completed their work???

[lightning]

2 1/2 hours ago I emailed my chair and associate dean for a copy of the current COVID policy.  NO reply.  Ninety minutes  ago I emailed the question to the provost's office.

NO reply.

I wonder IF they can find it without a functioning search function?


WHY go LIVE before the VENDORs have completed their work???

This was a brilliant move.

[Vkw10]

I'm now in the fifth month of rolling over $14k from TIAA to buy service credit in state pension plan. So far, TIAA has (1) failed to send form with check, (2) sent signed form without filling it in, (3) sent filled in form without signature, (4) sent form indicating that they sent $15k, (5) sent form indicating that the money was after-tax. I'm scared to see what happens with the form I uploaded today.

I'm giving myself the weekend to calm down, before I write TIAA a letter expressing just how unhappy I am.

[OneMoreYear]

SO and I are supposed to be leaving for our first vacation in forever tomorrow.  I so, so, so need this vacation because I'm utterly burned out, so much so that I've had thoughts of quitting 3 weeks before the semester starts. SO planned an awesome vacation (he likes to plan them, and I like someone else to plan them, so it works out).  And now I'm sick. Not COVID sick (negative test result; previously had COVID; had 1st vaccine; still mask everywhere). But regular sick.  Headache, dizzy, nauseated, fatigue, want to lie in bed with covers over my head sick. So now the decision is to ruin SO's vacation by cancelling at the last minute, or potentially ruin the vacation by being sick.  So, I'm venting. This might be a first world problem. But, I'm putting it here. I realize people may say we should cancel anyway due to the delta variant. I'm still venting. Feel free to blast me on the asides thread.

[clean]

AAHHH

Tonight is the Final Exam!  It is an online class and I opened the exam window at NOON yesterday to allow students to schedule the exam until 8 pm tonight --- thinking that I would not be up at 11 pm dealing with exam problems! !  BUT HERE I AM!!!

Student had some issue after being in the exam for a bit more than an hour.  She claims that the tried and tried to get the proctor's attention but could not. 

I was on the phone for 21 minutes myself, mostly on hold, getting things reset.  They tried to tell me that I would have to reschedule the test for another day!  BULLSHIT I need to do that!!  They told me that the window closed at 9, I said, "stay on the phone and I will reset the EXAMITY page MYSELF and you let me know that you see it fixed! 

Then they want to tell me that the student needs to rebook the exam and pay an  'on demand fee'.  BS to THAT too!!  IF the Proctor had communicated with her, then we may not even have had tonight's drama!

Why didnt the proctor talk to her?  Damn good question.... IF the Proctor doesnt hear QUESTIONS how closely are they actually PROCTORING!??

THEN   ==== YES THERE IS MORE!===

Then I get an email from the proctor saying that the student prefers to take the exam another day! 

Well, I told BOTH The Help folks AND the student that SHE DOESNT HAVE THAT OPTION!!!  SHE chose to take it tonight in the last hour, and By God She WILL!!

I told her that IF she wants an Incomplete in the class, I will discuss that but that I wont give the exam again until classes start again in 2 weeks, and then it takes about a month for the grade change to be processed.  (I dont know if it matters to her or not but GRADUATION Is TOMORROW!!!  So if she was planning to Graduate, then she better take the test NOW! )

I have Vented about this same issue before and the helpful readers helped me see the value of cutting the test window back to 8 pm. NOW I see that I need to cut it back to 6!  A THIRTY HOUR window is MORE THAN SUFFICIENT to schedule an exam slot! 

"But Im in class at six, the last exam slot" complains a student! "Then schedule it for 4 am!"  replies I, "there shouldnt be ANY conflicts  THEN!  It is POSSIBLE to take the exam BEFORE the LAST SLOT!!"

But they seem to think that those extra few hours of cramming (which MAY be the ONLY studying they try) are the most valuable!

AAAAHHHHH.... NEXT Semester!!! (IN 2 Weeks)  To paraphrase Scarlet O'Hara,  "AS God is my witness, I wont deal with this sort of Drama at 11pm again!!"

[Langue_doc]

Our city is going to hell in a handbasket. Just when you thought that public transportation couldn't get any worse, here is the latest.
https://nypost.com/2021/08/15/cops-seek-mta-motorman-who-let-gal-pal-drive-d-train-in-nyc/

According to the discussion on Reddit, there are probably going to be no or minimal consequences because of the union.

City and state officials, time to stop virtue signalling. Take concrete steps to make the city safe again.

[downer]

So the reference section of the library is closing for the two weeks before the start of the semester?

I guess I won't bother trying to add anything new to my courses this semester.

[AmLitHist]

Day 19 since initial contact with HR regarding ADA request. Submitted my signed forms within 24 hours of getting them from HR.  NO updates/determination/response/"go to hell"/anything else since. (Some here probably remember my saga of a prior accommodation a couple of years ago taking three full months--only to then get a quick sign-off on a no-brainer request.)

Also, first day of Service Week. Health and Safety Guy was adamant about having NO meetings F2F without a direct and compelling need--all should be Zoom/Teams this fall.  Um, tell that to the idiot admins who have scheduled all campus and dept. level meetings F2F this week?

Sigh.

[Larimar]

OnlyGameInTown CC has said that faculty who are teaching face-to-face classes should be prepared to move their classes online if it becomes necessary.

Um, I'll be teaching freshman comp for a compressed 7 week term. That means 3 hour class sessions twice a week in a computer lab. I  designed the course to include a lot of in-class drafting of papers and other assignments. If we suddenly lock down and go online mid-semester again, what in tarnation am I going to do with the class for 3 hour sessions over Zoom???? Normal-length classes over Zoom were already a disaster last time!