Frustrations

Hal writes:

There are a number of observations and situations that I find myself in on a daily basis, but just can't blog about. With this being a public forum, I can never be sure who is observing my comments. Not to say that there are a lot of people checking in on us, but I need to be cautious because of the confidentiality issues involved in my position. Anna is similar when working with patients, there is only so much information she can provide when speaking about her day.

My frustrations revolve primarily with communication, or more specifically non-communication, between myself and some colleagues. As the RD of a new building, there are apt to be a number of problems associated with it. But when my students have questions about uncompleted tasks, I have no information to give them on progress because I am not given any information from those in the know. My inside voice usually says "don't ask me, I just work here" while my outside voice asks for patience. (Or, as my CSP colleagues understand, "trust the process".)

I don't know if I mentioned this, but I was elected to the Academic Staff Senate last spring. Once at the meeting, there were executive board elections and I became the Vice Chair. One of my duties is to be the liaison to the Faculty Senate, which has been a very interesting experience. I am, of course, not allowed to vote or voice my opinions (I am, after all, only an academic staff member and not a full fledged tenured faculty person) but that gives me opportunities to sit back and observe. Today's discussion revolved around hiring practices and how to increase hiring of faculty of color and retention of said faculty. Something that all schools struggle with as they look to be more "diverse". One of our hindrances is that we are situated in southwest Wisconsin which is not exactly the most ethnically diverse area of our country. Although there was general agreement that there is a goal to attract and retain more non-white faculty members, nobody has figured out how to do it. The UWP plan calls for all faculty and staff to participated in an 8 hour workshop dealing with institutionalized racism. My date is in November, so I'll have to wait a bit before I find out what it is all about.

Anyone follow Dog the Bounty Hunter? Tonight on A&E they had an update with the family as they struggle with whether or not Dog will be deported to Mexico. This is making for a great ethics conversation (was it ok to arrest a rapist in Mexico when bounty hunting is not allowed in Mexico? Is it justified because a rapist is in prison or should it be condemned for breaking Mexican law?). But my heart still goes out to the follow as they worry about the possibility of deportation.

Only a week and a half until Gustavus Homecoming. Attention all former Gustie Greeters: all Greeter reunion at half time of the football game. Huzzah!