Woke up early and went into work. It's graduation weekend this weekend, and the campus is abuzz preparing for the event. As I drove by Dad's Gate there were 6 people out planting big flats of flowers. Others were powerwashing the sidewalks, pruning and weeding, and spreading bark. I always love this time of year, all the excitement and happiness. Families come together to celebrate a fantastic accomplishment that their son or daughter, niece or nephew. Often these accomplishments take years or even a lifetime to reach. Over the last few weeks I've repeatedly seen nervous students pacing the hallway outside our conference room. The culmination of a PhD is the defense, which happens in the weeks up before graduation. It is given after years and hyears of work and it can be the death of your dreams if you somehow blow it. Generally people don't, because by the time you are far enough along in a PhD program to do your defense you have proved yourself, but it still is a time of anxiety and then celebration.
This is a busy time in the offices. During the school year staff work Monday throught Friday, and are off at 5 without a second thought. This weekend though most everyone will be working out in the departments. They do it as much for the pleasure of seeing people complete their degrees and start their life as anything.
People always ask me if we have the summer off. The resounding answer is a big fat "NO". College goes on all year long. Faculty often take the summer off, but staff are still in the trenches. Working like I do in the dean's offices, we are barely effected by graduation or the end of the school year. Our biggest work season often is spring and summer. We start preparing for the 'new year' which for us starts July 1 early in the spring and we continue with setup and adjustments right up till fall term.
I think the truth of the matter is that I really love school. I loved college - I loved learning, the smell of new books in the fall, the cycles that let you complete one set of tasks and move onto another. I loved the freedom of learning about whatever you wanted, stretching your imagination and finding out you could do things you never imagined. I still love that as that is a large part of my job. I may not be developing a cure for cancer or writing the next great novel, but I'm allowed a level of freedom and creativity in my job that would never occur in most standard corporate positions. Universities are full of bright people and lots of energy. They can get stuck in 'how we have alway done it' but often you find innovative people who are dedicated to doing things for something besides money. (Lord knows you don't work there for the cash, private industry would pay so much better for most PhDs and even a lot of Masters and Bachelors degree holders.)
The other thing about universities is that they are really beautiful. The buildings are often old and protected by historic preservation. There are plans to maintain green spaces, and the landscaping is gorgeous. The tree outside my window is almost 100 years old. I work in a building that is 120 years old. There is something great about being a part of something so much bigger.
Ok, enough ode to work for one day. Have a fantastic evening!
Showing posts with label work. Show all posts
Showing posts with label work. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
Why are manners and ethics dead?
This weekend we are throwing a little party for our latest addition, Emma. We never properly got the chance to welcome her to the family when she arrived last fall. When you are dealing with adoption of orphanage infants you are dealing with attachment issues. We were told to do something called 'funneling' where you don't let anyone hold the baby but you for months, allowing time for the new child to bond with you as parents. With 8 months under our belts now, it seems appropriate to celebrate Emma coming into our lives.
We are having her baptized at church on Sunday. Aftwards we will all meet friends for lunch. I've reserved a private room at a local chinese restaurant on the river. We sent out invitations and we put RSVP on them.
We are now getting close to the time when I have to call the restaurant and confirm. I have heard very little from anyone. When I've said, 'so, do you think you are coming' they all say, 'oh yes'. But if I didn't run into them and ask I wouldn't hear a thing!
Honestly though, this is just one example of a far bigger problem. It seems manners have pretty much died off. Thank you notes after job interviews never happen anymore. It actually dates us to write them. People under the age of 40 do not write them in my experience.
Putting 'regrets only' on the invitation does no better. People just don't follow up. They either show up or they don't and somehow you are supposed to plan for it.
Meanwhile work today was full of fun information. I have an employee whom I suspected had poor judgement for quite a while. Today I confirmed that. Her judgement is far worse then I expected, and now I have to do something about it. She violated a university policy and a state administrative rule. I started the process of gathering the documentation I need to mount a progressive discipline case against her.
I hate these. As a supervisor I can't talk about what she has done to anyone. I'll be slayed by her with her coworkers because she is free to say whatever she wishes. Most of these cases say plenty. Meanwhile management follows all the rules and carefully backs up their case. In the 10 years I've done this I've terminated 3 employees. It has taken me well over a year each time to go through all the documentation and hoops that are required. At the end I have never had a single doubt about my decision to terminate them. We shift employees, we retrain and rework employees, we do a lot to make their jobs work with their lives. When they choose to fail, it is a long process that in the end shows the worst of everyone.
I rarely have these quite frankly, and when I do I am forever amazed that people don't take their jobs that are paid for with taxpayer money more seriously. I've always felt that if your behavior was not something you'd want on the front of the state newspaper, then you should not choose to do it. People over the years do continue to amaze me with their choices. We have an obligation to behave ethically at work. People trust us with their children and their money. I'm baffled why some employees don't get the gravity of the situation.
All for tonight!
We are having her baptized at church on Sunday. Aftwards we will all meet friends for lunch. I've reserved a private room at a local chinese restaurant on the river. We sent out invitations and we put RSVP on them.
We are now getting close to the time when I have to call the restaurant and confirm. I have heard very little from anyone. When I've said, 'so, do you think you are coming' they all say, 'oh yes'. But if I didn't run into them and ask I wouldn't hear a thing!
Honestly though, this is just one example of a far bigger problem. It seems manners have pretty much died off. Thank you notes after job interviews never happen anymore. It actually dates us to write them. People under the age of 40 do not write them in my experience.
Putting 'regrets only' on the invitation does no better. People just don't follow up. They either show up or they don't and somehow you are supposed to plan for it.
Meanwhile work today was full of fun information. I have an employee whom I suspected had poor judgement for quite a while. Today I confirmed that. Her judgement is far worse then I expected, and now I have to do something about it. She violated a university policy and a state administrative rule. I started the process of gathering the documentation I need to mount a progressive discipline case against her.
I hate these. As a supervisor I can't talk about what she has done to anyone. I'll be slayed by her with her coworkers because she is free to say whatever she wishes. Most of these cases say plenty. Meanwhile management follows all the rules and carefully backs up their case. In the 10 years I've done this I've terminated 3 employees. It has taken me well over a year each time to go through all the documentation and hoops that are required. At the end I have never had a single doubt about my decision to terminate them. We shift employees, we retrain and rework employees, we do a lot to make their jobs work with their lives. When they choose to fail, it is a long process that in the end shows the worst of everyone.
I rarely have these quite frankly, and when I do I am forever amazed that people don't take their jobs that are paid for with taxpayer money more seriously. I've always felt that if your behavior was not something you'd want on the front of the state newspaper, then you should not choose to do it. People over the years do continue to amaze me with their choices. We have an obligation to behave ethically at work. People trust us with their children and their money. I'm baffled why some employees don't get the gravity of the situation.
All for tonight!
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