First day of Faculty Meetings

Yes, it's been two days. I have fallen behind blogging because I am addicted to making my syllabi perfect. One down and one to go.

Wednesday was the "faculty report" day. We had one ENG meeting and one COM meeting. The ENG one went smoothly. The COM was another story. There seems to be some struggle between long term faculty members. However, it was most entertaining for the new kids on the block. The strife? How long to make the time requirements on speeches for COM121. People were arguing over 5 to 7 minutes overall, 4 to 6 minutes overall, or having each speech be a different time requirement. Are you kidding me? It was hilarious. Finally, one of the smart old-timers suggested 4-8 minutes on each and every speech requirement and profs could tailor it to their own needs. Wow. Thank God for the smart blonde in the group (no, it wasn't me). She has a great way of cutting to the chase.

The Dean is going to another school and she put her hubby in charge of the COM group. Interesting choice and it apparently rubbed some of the old timers the wrong way thus the battle of time blocks.

I visited one-on-one with a sweet, dear old man who has been teaching English for nearly 30 years. He is due to retire in a year or so. I enjoyed talking with him and soaking up his vast amount of knowledge. He always has a pot of coffee so I'm sure I will be knocking on his door all semester. If not for advice, then for the coffee! He collects coffee mugs. I'll have to dig out a Gator and Cowboy mug to add to his collection. I'm sure I have some extras collecting dust around my desk ... well, somewhere.

The prof dev speaker was excellent. He is a business colleague of mine so I am bias. I enjoyed watching from the sidelines. Apparently, there is overall disagreement among the administration, the faculty and the board members. It was entertaining to observe the reactions to the speaker's suggestions. Unfortunately, he did not roll up his sleeves to reveal his totally tattooed arms. I thought he was heading there when he removed his suit jacket and started to roll them up, but he just didn't get them rolled up high enough. I would have loved to have seen their reaction to his tattoo sleeves. He gives an excellent discussion about stereotypes in class and reveals his tattoos. Perhaps he thought this audience was a bit too conservative.

My suggestion for ending some of the strife is to bring some new people in! The ones who have taught the same class the same way for 30 years need to update or retire. I've read through some syllabi that have nearly bored me to tears. I can only imagine how the kids feel. Wow. I've planned for guest speakers all throughout the semester. I don't want the students to only listen to me. Nope, they need some real world lifers to visit and share. I think it will be a good semester.

We shall see!

My COM syllabus is finally done. Now to the ENG one.

Oh! I'm so glad that I'm working from one of the satellite campuses. I can wear jeans and no heels. Those darn high heels that I wore on Wed put blisters on my toes. Ouch!