We've had a lot of sunny, bright weather here in the northen UK lately, and the days are rapidly getting longer (the clock change added to that) and now it's light until 8pm or so. Mr Shoutypants established a routine recently of eat (at 6), poop, then demand entertainment - that is, wanting me to wave his laser toy around for him to chase for ten minutes. However, now it's light in the evening the laser toy is apparently much less fun and he has made his feelings known. What out-of-your-control thing have you done lately to annoy your pet (or other household inhabitant)??
As usual, a space for checking in if you want during this transition.
Well that was a week. My university has decided to stop paying for Web of Science (major research resource) because we only need one such tool, and Scopus is the "lucky winner" - I'm very annoyed! Both because I have always used WoS, but also because WoS and Scopus produce different results from the same search terms (therefore are NOT interchangable), because Scopus has an interface which looks elegant but is almost unreadable to me when I'm tired (the lines of the font are fine and the font is relatively small and it doesn't adjust well as you zoom in so you lose information off the page, rather than having a larger font on the whole page), and because it was just another straw in the enshittification of everything saga of the modern university. it's Been A Week. In short:
ReplyDelete* recruitment numbers for next year are terrible for our subject area, the person who is in charge of admissions for it admitted they hadn't been doing most of the tasks they said they had, and the person I'm supposedly sharing the director of education job with has had to take that role back over.
* Referees comments came back on a paper with a grad student and the editor only sent us one set - the other one was "personal" so not forwarded. The set forwarded was hostile, agressive, unkind and made sweeping claims about how wrong the methods used are which very strongly suggest that the referee has not actually gone into the underlying assumptions of the methods or done work in the subfield. They got offensively worked up about using a method first developed in the 1980s, saying it was antique. Cue student melt down I have to deal with (not my student, either, but I helped choose the methods, so). And a big chunk of stress dealing with it on Monday.
* Students went on a field trip, they're supposed to have planned their activities in their tutor groups before hand. All tutors sent detailed instructions. Less than one third of the students had done any planning. When asked tutors claimed they hadn't realised they NEEDED to prepare them for the field trip, or they hadn't been told, or they were too stressed.
* I am marking a big batch of first year work, so of course there is AI in everything.
* A colleague is dealing with some family issues, refused to take extra leave, clearly needs is - and has been causing student complaints right left and centre by being sarcastic and angry with them and sending up formal complaints to faculty for crimes like "citing a book without having read the whole thing" (it's a STEM module, students are specifically taught not to read entire books but to use the index, section headings etc. to find information). For students who hope to graduate this summer. Cue more student melt-downs, of course, and I have sympathy for this person, but these are final year students and this is just unkind.
* last week's multi-author paper issue was "solved" by me doing the left over tasks. Because clearly I had nothing else to do.
* And so it goes on, and on, and on.
I love THE job, but THIS job, and indeed the state of the sector across the whole of the English-speaking world at least, are really making me wonder how much longer I can carry on.
Last week's goals:
Delete1) at least 3 x 20 minutes intentional movement done
2) 75% of chores list not done
3) get this darned revised article resubmitted yes. Half expecting it to come back as it went in 200 words over limit and missing a proper graphical abstract but it's in.
4) start to plan timetabling for next year started. Waiting for all co-teachers to reply to me...
5) book annual leave for the summer monthsyes. No plans for what to do in it - sleep? - but booked
6) comment on grad student from another university's paper (unless I get a big chunk from one of my masters-by-research students in - those take priority at this point, they are both "supposed" to submit at the end of the month but are unlikely to make it) yes - and also began to deal with "motivation crisis" for one of the M by R students, again. I do like mentoring, I do, but sometimes it's very hard to summon up the right energy!
FOR THE COMING WEEK:
1) at least 3 x 20 minutes intentional movement
2) 75% of chores list
3) finish marking big first year assignment
4) submit timetable plans for next year
5) draft kill-them-with-kindness response to hostile reviewer and to the editor of the journal who really should know better (as they DO use the methods in question).
6) go to Away Day and All Staff Forum and behave with some decorum
Sorry, that sounds like the most awful, draining week imaginable. Why write a review, or forward it, if it's unkind? I get that sometimes papers have to be rejected, but there are ways of framing a rejection that let the author down gently.
DeleteNever mind STEM students not reading whole books, neither do humanities students, nor are they advised to! Certainly not if what you need is specific information/a quick overview. Here's hoping this coming week is better.
I have no cats to annoy. Closest is probably repeatedly messaging my children to remind them to be home for dinner. The lighter the evenings get, the less inclined they are to hurry home. I can't blame them too much, but there's a limit to how long I want to postpone dinner.
ReplyDeleteLast week:
1. Read a colleague's grant proposal. - YES
2. Work on paper for a seminar next week. - YES, BUT NOT ENOUGH!!!
3. House/life admin: book more summer travel, RSVP to cousin's wedding invite, book doctor's appointment, book optician, find lamps and new chair, figure out car insurance for daughter (she passed!). - YES to all, except chair and lamps (supposed to be my birthday presents so obviously bottom of the pile!
4. Self-care/fun: video call with friends and plan weekend away in June, read, try new recipes, exercise, spend as much time as possible looking at blossom while it lasts. - YES except video call (postponed). Blossom still glorious, bluebells are out.
This week:
1. Finish and deliver seminar paper!
2. Meeting about teaching - try not to get enraged/despondent.
3. House/life admin: meet with financial advisor, niece's birthday present, make follow up appointments with optician, find time to call friend whose mother's funeral is this week.
4. Self care/fun: enjoy time in Cambridge once seminar done, read, exercise, come up with birthday suggestions for family.