Describe your ideal dep't common room

[Aster]

This is about the time when we get a call from the Dean stating that the planned common room will instead now be converted into an extra office space.

[ergative]

This is about the time when we get a call from the Dean stating that the planned common room will instead now be converted into an extra office space.

That's better than the alternative, which was briefly bruited about in the consultations about our new building: Lots and lots of beautiful common spaces and so on, but everyone would have to share an office. We had a momentary triumph when we got the shared office idea shelved, but then the entire project was put on hold, so we're back to the status quo.

[the_geneticist]

If I had to make the choice, I'd 100% rather have a private office and no department common room than a shared office space with a nice common room.  I have to be in my office most of the day every day.  A common room is a luxury I'm willing to pass on if it means I get the security and privacy to do my work.

[Aster]

One of my colleagues at another institution had a nice "common room" once, long, long ago.

But the two professors whose offices were adjacent to the common room decided that the common room was now "their space". Students were run off by the professors as being in a "faculty space". Other (new) professors were told that the space "isn't actually a common room, but my outer office area". Since one of the two a-hole professors practicing this lie was the Dean, nobody could countermand or ignore him.

I've visited this space once myself. It is a nice open area, with a large table and chairs. I sat down once and worked with a student on her research. And then afterwards my colleague who works there told me that the one of the a-hole professors had told my colleague to tell me that I shouldn't be there and that it wasn't a common space. What an a-hole.

So just a warning. If your planned common room is next to faculty offices, make sure that those faculty remain *junior* to everyone else. Ha ha.

[KiUlv]

I don't understand this common room of which you speak.... in the admin office for our department, we have a microwave and a table with two chairs outside the HR person and head admin asst person's offices, does that count? And a tiny refrigerator in the supply closet :D

Similar to what the_geneticist said, I'm pretty happy with my nice large-ish private office (with fantastic view from the window) and I'm so glad not to be sharing space.