Opinion on people that CC on everything? - Page 3

A bunch of us went out to visit our new property (which we'll be moving to in a couple months) along with the president and her assistant. We ate lunch, then checked everything out. After coming back to the office, assistant sends everyone an email noting that the President paid for the meal. One person hits "reply all" for his thanks, I feel this is sucky so I just send a short email thanking the President directly. Then everyone else also reply-all thanks her, this is like 10 emails now of "Thank you for the lunch, Dr. Tsui!" etc. Now I feel like the other people are going to be like "Where's Eason's 'Thank you' email? That ungrateful prick!"

Who cares what they think? The president got your message and that's all that counts.

In fact, you might be added kudos for doing it directly and not making a big "show" of the whole thing.

Hope lunch was good, btw...

Mine liked to take simple questions directed her way that were within her purview and copy Deans/Heads only when it would make you look bad, with specially selected tone ensured just to do that, while simultaneously taking great offense to everything. In addition to being insane, and BEYOND "passive-aggressive," she was also a non-native English speaker who played (1) the race card (2) the gender card and (3) the "me peek no engrish and am poor small helpless woman" card to her advantage, when she could use it to crush people she didn't like.

Seriously... it was like:

Me: "So, did you say that your research seminar next week is in room 401, or 402. I think I may have written down the wrong room."

Her: "I'm perfectly capable of keeping organized notes and do not need to be asked questions insinuating that I'm not organized, that I'm unprepared, or that I didn't make it VERY clear in what I said where the meeting was. That would you ask such a question about a matter that was thoroughly resolved is surprising and I'm personally shocked and offended by everything that you said. Your patronizing email's attempts to belittle and marginalize my research efforts did not go unnoticed, and the single-handed attempt to disenfranchize my work in this way will not be tolerated."

Luckily, I don't work with this person anymore, though I do get "updates" from others who work with her about how, unlike a fine wine, she ain't getting better with age.

Glad to hear -_-+

lol in HK most business lunches are dim sum, and they range from horrible to passable. This was passable.

Yikes, Rach, just that little example makes me so happy I'm not in the academy.

Rach's stories about academia feed my nightmares.

+1

For people who come from business/private sector, I honestly think you'd be amazed that it doesn't come crashing down and I think you'd make it about two weeks before snapping. Of course, I'm not talking about my work as a teacher/researcher (which obviously I love!) but the inner workings of how Departments run.

Sorry for the length, but my basic theory of Academia goes like this:

many, if not most, have spent their lives feeling like they never got the respect they deserve, that their "genius" was never recognized, and that their wants/desires/phobias were never coddled enough.

When young, many of these pale face flat chested tiny dicked overweight nerds playing Dungeons and Dragons never got respect, never got the girls (or boys), got picked on, called names, etc. Nobody cared.

In college, they were smart, but not popular. Grad school, they blossomed and found research interest. After grad school, they went right into academia, both with these same phobias/background of "abuse" and also having NEVER had an actual job.

SO, they start a job teaching in which they are ripe to turn that abuse outward, and have NO idea how to function in a real world setting, with not training how to handle problems, work with a group, be responsible for XYZ (like they would had they worked in a private business.) They also have no idea about the problems of a real world, and so when that student misses class because he had to work (to pay his tuition), or was sick, or whatever, they are unreasonably assholes and have NO empathy whatsoever. THEY have the time to spend 12 hours a day reading Bourdieu, so why can't their students? THEY never had lives in college, so that means nobody else does/can either.

Get a bunch of these like-minded social rejects with a chip on their shoulder and a list of PhDs and publications a mile long together, and over time they create the world that they want to see, as they get promoted. Now that pimple faced overweight nerd is 50, and a sleazy cardigan wearing prof or a raging, angry feminist who hates men of all kind (and other women even more) and has the power to do what they want.

Now, though, with the ultimate PC atmosphere, their wants and feelings get coddled, and they really have no bosses or restrictions (assuming they publish and/or get grants!) so basically they can do whatever they want. They also realize that being collegial or playing nice doesn't help, and that being the biggest asshole (or, for women, the biggest bitch) often gets them what they want. Over time, sure, this may SOMEDAY come back to haunt them, but not before they've made Dean or full Prof and earn $150,000+ a year to work 8 hours a week.

Academia has its good points, of which there are many, but the way in which it is run, the things that usually are valued, and the inner workings of a department are not. I LOVE teaching because I can work with students, so keep me in the classroom and out of the Department Office Suite!

Things are slowly changing, with things like "pay for performance" and a FEW principles brought over from business, but it's still basically a very old, very broken, feudal socialistic bureaucracy with hints of Fascism thrown in for good measure. I wish administrators were, in general, NOT simply promoted faculty (who again have NEVER had a real job), but instead were people who have a background/training in... mirabile dictu... administration! They usually are not.

Two posts:

My other reason for the above is in comparison. I've worked (counting now and including work as a full-time instructor while finishing doctoral research) at three universities, one private and two public. The two public ones were typical programs, with Deans/Heads, etc promoted from within. All were former/current faculty, and none of them (to a person) had ever had a course, workshop, seminar, or training in administration, or in running a team, group, etc. No business experience, nothing. As such, the meetings and the whole department atmosphere were largely like a middle school girls' lunchroom table.

Now I'm very lucky to work in a program with a business and commerce focus, where the heads, deans, and several of the other faculty are people from business, administration, etc. It continues, almost daily, to FLOOR me how different the whole experience is. Organized, clear communication, clear sets of directions, clear expectations with accountability set in for non-compliance, benefits for compliance, incentives to be a better teacher/researcher, etc. All things that mimic a well-working capitalist/free-market system, but in academia. Not that it's perfect, and it's a position I've accepted recently so over time things may change... but even thus far the experience has been so different. The other two places I realized within about six hours that I'd be better just staying in my office and then in the classroom, because the department itself was a Viper Pit of overly-PC factions playing their anger off of others and exploiting weaknesses in the system to get what they want, and all of them with an agenda (the gay faculty with their ACT OUT 1970's vigilante style of "transgression," the Marxist dinosaurs lumbering around with their 1960's rhetoric, the international faculty who hated America, and then the angry, bitter women who use the gender/sexual harassment card to scare male deans/bosses into submission through sheer lunacy.)

Thankfully there are usually one or two other truly sane, good teachers without a long lists of neuroses with whom you can make friends. BUT, other than that, you basically keep to yourself and keep your head down. You find your research colleagues (often at other instutitions!) and do your own thing while you let those middle-school games play themselves out without you. Otherwise, it takes up 90% of your time and energy and you burn out FAST.