The Venting Thread

[mamselle]

Yes, and always spend down budgeted line items to the last dime if you want them to be re-funded at par or above.

Otherwise it looks like you don't need the money and someone on the recipients' list will start lusting after it for their pet line items....and lobbying for it.

M.

[Cheerful]

Yes, and always spend down budgeted line items to the last dime if you want them to be re-funded at par or above.

Otherwise it looks like you don't need the money and someone on the recipients' list will start lusting after it for their pet line items....and lobbying for it.

M.

Yes.  Once you establish the precedent of getting by with less, the situation often becomes permanent.

[the_geneticist]

Yes, and always spend down budgeted line items to the last dime if you want them to be re-funded at par or above.

Otherwise it looks like you don't need the money and someone on the recipients' list will start lusting after it for their pet line items....and lobbying for it.

M.

Yes.  Once you establish the precedent of getting by with less, the situation often becomes permanent.

Ugh, it's the miserable cousin to the "if someone gives you a budget, you spend it!"

[marshwiggle]

Never, ever agree to "do more with less". When your budget, faculty, and staff get cut, you should invest time looking for activities that you can stop doing. Do less with less!

I've heard that "We"ll all have to figure out how to Do More With Less speech before. It ends with lots of unhappy, burnt out people who do shoddy work from sheer exhaustion. My department is actively looking for activities to stop doing. We have fewer resources, so we will Do Less With Less.

I've seen that advice given to librarians who face budget cuts.  If you are told that your periodical budget has been cut, then let it be known that titles will be cut, and make sure patrons know why some of their accustomed periodicals are no longer there.  Make sure that patrons feel the loss of service, and that they know who to thank for the cuts. 

This can be done in one of two ways; in good faith or grandstanding.
If it's done in good faith, it means cutting the things that are expensive and used by the fewest people, so it will affect very few people. If it's grandstanding, then it means cutting things that are used by a lot of people so it makes a lot of anger to put pressure on the Powers-That-Be to reverse the cuts.

I can't in good conscience do the grandstanding, even with having had many budget cuts to deal with in my career.

[FishProf]

 I heard a story when I was in Grad School from an Air Force Colonel.  He was asked by an Army General why the Air Force had so much nicer bases than the Army.  The Colonel asked how they built their bases,

The General said, "we build the mission critical structures, and work our way down, and we never get enough money for decent barracks or rec facilities.  What do you do?

The Colonel said: We build all the facilities and amenities first.  The LAST thing we build is the runway."

The General replies "What if you run out of money before then?"

"What Congressman is going to be the one who denies the Air Force the funding for a Runway on a new base?  We always get the additional funds"

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

I managed to grade 20 lab reports in an hour and was ready to start my second set.... and then everyone woke up and came downstairs...

Cue cats howling as well.

[apl68]

Never, ever agree to "do more with less". When your budget, faculty, and staff get cut, you should invest time looking for activities that you can stop doing. Do less with less!

I've heard that "We"ll all have to figure out how to Do More With Less speech before. It ends with lots of unhappy, burnt out people who do shoddy work from sheer exhaustion. My department is actively looking for activities to stop doing. We have fewer resources, so we will Do Less With Less.

I've seen that advice given to librarians who face budget cuts.  If you are told that your periodical budget has been cut, then let it be known that titles will be cut, and make sure patrons know why some of their accustomed periodicals are no longer there.  Make sure that patrons feel the loss of service, and that they know who to thank for the cuts. 

This can be done in one of two ways; in good faith or grandstanding.
If it's done in good faith, it means cutting the things that are expensive and used by the fewest people, so it will affect very few people.

Which is exactly how libraries making cuts normally do it.  The point of the advice was to make sure that everybody still knows about the cuts, and why they happened, instead of making them as inconspicuous as possible.  The thinking is that if people aren't stirred up about less damaging cuts, that will only invite more damaging ones in the future.

[AmLitHist]

All employees received an email a couple of weeks ago, urgently insisting that everyone must come to a campus/main admin no later than 2/12 to replace a crucial Federal document in our personnel files.  (None of us could have been hired/paid without providing this documentation at the time of hire--for me, 16+ years ago.). 

Um, NO?  I'm not dragging my non-vaccinated diabetic self on a 100-mile round trip to replace something I gave you in 2004.  Not happening (and I notified my union as much).

Later, a faculty friend contacted Legal to see what the deal is, and was told that  this document from EVERY person's file was shredded last year, by mistake. 

Oh, HELL, no.

That same friend, also unvaccinated and with health issues, argued that she's not entering any buildings to do this paperwork, so they offered to have her meet her dean and do the transaction in a parking lot, '"like buying weed," as she put it.

F-ing morons.  (But let me not have the Banner printout of final grades I entered for a class from 12 years ago, and all hell will rain down--as actually happened to a number of faculty a few years back.)  Nope. They can come after me if they want, or they can wait til things get back to normal.

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

All employees received an email a couple of weeks ago, urgently insisting that everyone must come to a campus/main admin no later than 2/12 to replace a crucial Federal document in our personnel files.  (None of us could have been hired/paid without providing this documentation at the time of hire--for me, 16+ years ago.). 

Um, NO?  I'm not dragging my non-vaccinated diabetic self on a 100-mile round trip to replace something I gave you in 2004.  Not happening (and I notified my union as much).

Later, a faculty friend contacted Legal to see what the deal is, and was told that  this document from EVERY person's file was shredded last year, by mistake. 

Oh, HELL, no.

That same friend, also unvaccinated and with health issues, argued that she's not entering any buildings to do this paperwork, so they offered to have her meet her dean and do the transaction in a parking lot, '"like buying weed," as she put it.

F-ing morons.  (But let me not have the Banner printout of final grades I entered for a class from 12 years ago, and all hell will rain down--as actually happened to a number of faculty a few years back.)  Nope. They can come after me if they want, or they can wait til things get back to normal.

I'd be pissed too. Why should you pay for their screw ups?

[the_geneticist]

Yes, and always spend down budgeted line items to the last dime if you want them to be re-funded at par or above.

Otherwise it looks like you don't need the money and someone on the recipients' list will start lusting after it for their pet line items....and lobbying for it.

M.

Yes.  Once you establish the precedent of getting by with less, the situation often becomes permanent.

Ugh, it's the miserable cousin to the "if someone gives you a budget, you spend it!"

Ironically, I learned that we have somehow acquired a small pot of money to use towards teaching lab equipment.  We have to submit a proposal to the higher up folks by next month. 
I emailed a coworker to say "Hey, we have potential funds!  What do we need/want?"
They said, "I think we're set".
Wrong. Answer.
When someone offers you money, you TAKE IT.

[Langue_doc]

Yes, and always spend down budgeted line items to the last dime if you want them to be re-funded at par or above.

Otherwise it looks like you don't need the money and someone on the recipients' list will start lusting after it for their pet line items....and lobbying for it.

M.

Yes.  Once you establish the precedent of getting by with less, the situation often becomes permanent.

Ugh, it's the miserable cousin to the "if someone gives you a budget, you spend it!"

Ironically, I learned that we have somehow acquired a small pot of money to use towards teaching lab equipment.  We have to submit a proposal to the higher up folks by next month. 
I emailed a coworker to say "Hey, we have potential funds!  What do we need/want?"
They said, "I think we're set".
Wrong. Answer.
When someone offers you money, you TAKE IT.

All these goody two shoes, shooting themselves in the foot and also depriving others of opportunities and funds they're entitled to.

[Vkw10]

Ironically, I learned that we have somehow acquired a small pot of money to use towards teaching lab equipment.  We have to submit a proposal to the higher up folks by next month. 
I emailed a coworker to say "Hey, we have potential funds!  What do we need/want?"
They said, "I think we're set".
Wrong. Answer.
When someone offers you money, you TAKE IT.

I've learned to say, "Hi, EsteemedColleague. A miracle has occurred and UpperAdmin has some money for teaching lab equipment. May not happen again for years. So, what do we need, either now or to have on hand for things that are likely to wear out in a few years?" If the fund rules allow spending on relatively inexpensive items, I'll add, "Think about breakables, too. We can find storage space if there's stuff that gets broken." I do have to watch for things like printer cartridges and rubber bands that become obsolete or deteriorate, but that usually gets me a decent list.

[Langue_doc]

I can't even grade in peace. The minute I write comments on assignments, I immediately get emails from students about unrelated topics. The emails aren't the problem, but the expectations that since I'm grading, I should be responding to the emails immediately. I just got two emails, both from students whose assignments I graded about 15 minutes ago. Note to self: remember to use the "hide grades" function when grading assignments, even the low-stakes ones.

[the_geneticist]

Ironically, I learned that we have somehow acquired a small pot of money to use towards teaching lab equipment.  We have to submit a proposal to the higher up folks by next month. 
I emailed a coworker to say "Hey, we have potential funds!  What do we need/want?"
They said, "I think we're set".
Wrong. Answer.
When someone offers you money, you TAKE IT.

I've learned to say, "Hi, EsteemedColleague. A miracle has occurred and UpperAdmin has some money for teaching lab equipment. May not happen again for years. So, what do we need, either now or to have on hand for things that are likely to wear out in a few years?" If the fund rules allow spending on relatively inexpensive items, I'll add, "Think about breakables, too. We can find storage space if there's stuff that gets broken." I do have to watch for things like printer cartridges and rubber bands that become obsolete or deteriorate, but that usually gets me a decent list.

You are correct that it will not happen again for years (if ever). 
I've looked at the equipment we have and we do have some needs.  My Esteemed Colleague is rarely in a classroom and doesn't think about logistics like "If we need 3 lab rooms set up with [item], then we need three [items]."  Having one isn't enough.
And we have lots of old, likely to break soon/again equipment that should be replaced.

[downer]

If your system has changed people's email addresses, would it not be a good idea to forward the emails to the old address to the new one?