I've gotten razzed by a lurker recently about not posting for nearly 2 weeks, so I figured it's time to drop a quick update.
In the past couple of weeks, I've changed my capstone project twice (and then changed it back). I've also bitched to administration at the departmental, college, and university levels, as well as to a handful of related organizations (the Council of Graduate Students (COGS), the Graduate and Professional Student Association (GAPSA), the Board of Regents) about unresolved issues in my department and the College of Design (CDes). The Dean of the college tried to cow me by invoking the abstraction of "the profession," and it was insinuated that I was "not going to be anyone's favorite person." Those responses, I think, are rooted in a misapprehension of my intentions. I'm not interested in these people being my friends - I'm interested in them doing their jobs.
Yesterday (Tues) I had a meeting with the Dean and the Director of Technology for CDes. My Director of Graduate Studies (DGS) was also there, as was one other LA student. The outcome? Well, the wireless situation in our studio will be resolved by the College at its own expense, since the organization that manages the campus network doesn't give a flying shit about students, and isn't interested in doing anything to provide service prior to upgrading the entire campus network. Nice, that. I wish I could just defer my coursework for several months too. I believe the word "assclowns" is appropriate here.
A huge issue in our department (and somewhat at the college level as well) is the poor dissemination of information from administration to students. Obviously, it's a two-way street - they need to make info available, and we need to take responsibility for accessing the info. The problem is that there is no clearly defined route for information dispersal. Amongst their methods are such elements as: a blog that I can't find, dozens of emails about everything from internships in Florida to guest speakers, signs posted in the computer lab indicating which printers are currently unavailable, the CDes lab web site, bulletin boards, and student mailboxes. My proposal was that each studio have a "studio rep" who meets with their department head on a regular basis (LA already has this - can guess who the rep is for my studio?), and that that person not only brings up concerns from studio ("the trash doesn't get emptied," and "mice ate my project") but also receives information from the department head and disperses it to their studio-mates. It gives that person more responsibility, but I think it's a good compromise.
And as a person who loves responsibility, I am happy to take on that in addition to now being our department's rep to the COGS and our newly-appointed student rep to the University's technology committee. Yeah, I got that one too. The COGS thing shouldn't be too bad - a couple hours once a month for a meeting that includes free food. The technology committee thing? Who knows - but looks good on a resume, right? "Please give me a job. I like to bitch about stuff and then get put on committees."
Is there a word that describes the experience or sensation of becoming what you most despise, or for the fear of becoming that thing?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
I think the phrase you are looking for is "Becoming an adult" or "Growing up."
That being said, way to go babe! I am very proud of you!
well, there's that too, but i was thinking more about being borgified by institutional bureaucracy....
Re: your wireless story -- if I understand the campus setup correctly -- I used to work in an office that was recently transferred to the unit that doesn't give a flying shit about students, and conditions have steadily declined there ever since. The latest development, I hear tell, is that my former co-workers were called into a meeting and told not to talk to people in the main unit about how horrible things have become. Yay for not giving a flying shit about anybody.
Post a Comment