Last Friday, when I wasn’t writing here, I was writing on my work machine. I was also tempted to tear my hair out. The project was the contracting packet, which you must do every so often. It’s a windy narrative of the things you’ve done since the last packet. This is my first one at the new job. They’ve also changed their process. And universities, of course, love their process.
This is where I was in the process. The draft packet was due. My department has a committee that gives helpful feedback of the draft. Next month, I must turn in the real thing. So the draft is due. It’s a new process for me, and a new procedure for them. So I had to write all of this stuff. Simultaneously, at one point last week, I was listening in to a webinar explaining the new submission system. It still has some kinks to work out.
So I just concerned myself with the narrative. This shouldn’t be difficult. If there’s one thing I can do, is write. And if there’s another thing I can do, it’s write about me. And if there’s a third thing I can do, it’s do that at length.
There’s actually a page count. And if you maxed it out, the packet can be up to 39 pages. I finished my draft at 26 pages. To be fair, the packet is meant to be a narrative exploration of the last two or three years (depending on where you are). But mine is only an exploration of the past four months or so.
The hair-tearing part wasn’t about the content, but the formatting. And good grief, if someone could either make a word processing program that can just do straightforward work or just teach me how to use the train wreck that Word is intent on becoming, that’d be great. (This document I was working on has two different sets of table of contents for some reason, for example, with active links and so on. It’s just a series of things to deal with, format wise.
My lovely bride, who has already completed her packet because she has a different deadline for some reason, was exceedingly helpful with this whole week long exercise. She did three things that I probably could have done, but much more slowly. One of those things was to help with the PDF links.
It was due on Friday and in the 23rd hour of the day, after three days solid of working on it, not a sleep because of it, and two days behind in my grading because of it, and entirely over tabs and fonts and bullet points in Word, I sent it in.
And then I noticed the email that said the deadline was Sunday, and not Friday.
Even better. I’d finished early and it didn’t dominate the rest of the weekend.
The grading did. Because I was two days behind.
This week I had a meeting with a colleague who heads the committee that oversees this whole process. He said I did too much. The packet is laid out in steps. He had given me another colleague’s completed packet as an example, though it is now outdated. And in our talks he’d told me about this and that, explaining what each item was and should look like. And I guess I heard that as “Do this, and then do that, and do these things … ” He needed me to go through step 4, but I worked all the way through step 7.
So I’d done too much. But, he said, he wished everyone had to go through step 7. Because that’s where it has to go eventually. So I’m ahead of the game. And now I can pretend like it didn’t happen until I get feedback from the committee a week or two from now.
We also talked, this week, about what my classes would be next fall. So I am now in the know seven months ahead of the term. And we also discussed problems with the schedule. And he’s fixing the problems. It was lovely. And then we discussed how I can schedule classes for future terms.
For instance, one of my classes next fall will be a new one I’m offering, Criticism in Sports Media. I’ve already started assembling source material and laying out course objectives.
Starting one brand new course a term is possible. Getting a new class up and running takes a lot of time and attention and so it might not be wise to start a bunch of brand new courses in one semester. That gives me something to shoot for in the next several years. Fortunately, I have pages and pages of ideas. Also, I have a line in my job ad that asked for me to design new courses. And, after that meeting this week, I suddenly have a great deal of agency in my work.
That’s so exciting, I want to go right a bunch of notes.
And so, this week, I have written five posts here which discusses two weeks. And it was still incomplete, as recountings go. Next week, the normal pace returns. I am excited for that, too.
But, now, those notes.
