New Realities

By Eliana Osborn. If there’s one thing you can count on in academe — or in life — it is that things will change. My campus is in the midst of a lot of personnel changes. I wrote about my direct supervisor leaving, which threw me for a little bit of a loop as an adjunct. As the summer went on, more shifts came to light. Even my department secretary has moved on.
Whether the changes are in your workload, in management or personnel, or there’s been a hiring freeze put in place, we all have to be flexible and roll with the punches. I find it challenging to know where to turn for issues when people and organization charts are in flux. For me, that’s an added stress, especially at the start of a semester.
Some professors simply resist change, burrowing in and rarely leaving their office to avoid dealing with new realities. While I understand the impulse, it isn’t a long-term solution. Others jump on whatever bandwagon is coming through — a push for new paradigms, tossing out traditional grading systems, etc.
How do you keep your head amid the winds of change?