Meetings and Miles

The day started off a tad too early. Since Jim took the day off I could not depend on his alarm to wake me. As it happened his snoring did a better job than the alarm! I was up before 6:30 and dragged my sorry self out the door at 7:30.

The reason for the early departure was a requirement that I attend some sort of workshop/briefing on Assessments in relation to our pending SACS review. I should have taken the disorganization I found upon my arrival as an omen. I was at the front doors of Wise Auditorium at 8:15. There were three people there, including Dr. Rogers, who is in charge of the review at TJC. They were trying the doors and found them locked. None of them had a cell phone except the custodial staff person, so they used it to call Campus Safety to come let us in. About that time Jeff Dawson of Media Services, who was inside, came through and unlocked the doors. When we got inside, they realized that there were no sign-in sheets because Starla Horton had not yet arrived. Now they had no cell phone at all because the custodial person had disappeared, so I had to loan them mine. They called Starla. No answer. So one of them had the bright idea to use the back of one of the handouts as a temporary sign-in sheet (as people were beginning to arrive) until Starla showed...except they had NO PEN!!! I had to lend them a pen, too! One of the ladies (whose name alas I did not know) remarked, "Well, at least one person here is prepared!"

I wish the same could be said for the presentation. I can't say the blame rests solely on Rise Knight, the presenter, though given her situation--living in Michigan and flying down here for a week here and a week there to direct SACS operations--such an outcome seems very predictable. She was completely disorganized, despite--or perhaps because of--having a plethora of over-detailed Power Point slides giving verbatim transcripts of SACS requirements. As she proceeded through these, she tried to explain some but then contradicted herself, or was contradicted by members of a committee with whom she had met only the night before. She baffled everyone with terms that had no meaning to the majority. She made reference to elements in the handouts that no one knew about (had they not flipped ahead).

The result was near-complete chaos. People were mumbling and flipping and asking questions that could hardly be heard, and Rise would try to answer only to be overriden by the dean or a committee person. I was seated next to Joan Bruckwicki, who serves on one of the SACS committees, and her eyes were closed. "She's making this sound a lot more complicated than it really is," commented Joan drily, a point with which I heartily agreed.

The thing that puzlled me out most, however, was why people were acting so confused. Didn't they understand that 90% of this had nothing to do with them? Why were they bothering to try and understand it? We preach about teaching critical thinking but I think some of my colleagues demonstrated a frightful lack of it this morning!! Anyone with experience could look at the handout and figure out that many of the points would not affect them--although Rise's presentation made it sound as if it would. (Here is where the written word outweighed the spoken one.) I had to make do with scribbling notes to this effect on my steno pad and passing them to my neighbor, Sharon.

Thankfully, around 9:50, Rise could see that things had gotten out of hand and initiated our coffee break. Once outside I walked with a colleague back to Jenkins and I could tell we were thinking the same thing: our required presence this morning was simply a bureaucratic necessity. The Powers That Be had to be able to show SACS that they had briefed the faculty directly--and what more convenient way for them than to crowd us into an auditorium?--and that the faculty had participated in the process, etc.-- noble sentiments on paper, but in reality it produced a great big mess (and a waste of time for us proletarians). Ours was not to question why but just to shut up and let the thing carry forward to its own conclusion and wait for the details later. (That's why administrative hierarchies exist: to work out the details with a small group, then delegate that group to explain it to those lower down the food chain.)

In any event, I heard the same sentiments from most of the colleagues I met around campus in the interval. Perhaps someone related something pointed to Rise, because when we reconvened she left behind all the broad strokes and simply focused on things that would directly affect faculty members. Consequently, we went through the rest of the presentation in half an hour. So now they can check off this particular box on their road to review and the rest of us can go about our business.

(Sigh.) So that was the morning!! As soon as the meeting broke up I went to the HPE Parking lot to fetch my gym bag from the car. I went in, changed into my swimsuit, and was swimming laps before 11:00 a.m. I swam a very quick 500 yards--seemed quick, unless I miscounted. I drank some water, then went on to my next 500. I took only a few seconds to swig a quick sip of water and then swam my last 500 (to make it seem as much as possible that I swam 1000 uninterrupted yards). I left the pool around 11:25, took a cool shower (those damn things take forever to heat up, if then!), then left to find lunch.

I ate lunch at my desk while I worked on my syllabus and other paperwork. I caught up a bit with Madeleine, who became a grandmother this morning. I worked a bit more, then left just beofre 2 p.m.

Upon arriving at home, I saw Jim was here. I got a briefing on his day. Big surprise: he rode at the Park! He accomplished little else. I briefed him on the morning's event, but of course he had a riposte for any instance of bureaucratic mafleasance I could possibly quote. So I changed into my running togs and decided I would at least finish out the remaining 25 minutes of running that my training plan outlined.

Before I even reached the front gate, I could tell this would not be an easy run. My legs had no energy. I thought perhaps after a bit things would improve but it never really did. And all I could think of was: "If it's this hard after a three hour break, and without even a bike ride in the interval, then how hard will it be to run during the actual race?" I did not want to think about that too much. Rather, I just slogged on, determined not to quit. I managed to run almost the entire route without walking, but ambition got the better of me before I got to the foot of Lee's Hill when I saw the time at 28 minutes and wanted to finished under 30. I quickened my pace but my HR soon hit 186 and I had to stop and walk a bit. I still made it to the mark just over 30 minutes, but it was not a pleasant experience.

Let's hope time and practice will improve all things.