We’ve all sent an email to our Vice President and not
received a response…sometimes for days…or weeks. Count me in this category. I would wonder….what did I say? Is she mad at me? Did I suggest something stupid?
Well, today was day five of me being a Vice President and if
you are one of those 500+ folks that are waiting for a response from me…..well,
sorry. Read this first and you will get
it.
I get it now.
In the 40 hours that made up my first week as a VP, 37 of
them were spent in meetings. And that
doesn’t count the evening activities I attended to become acquainted with my
new community.
Hardly leaves any time to eat a proper lunch or go to the
bathroom, let alone reply to the steady stream of email that requires my
attention. And I have hardly been on
facebook at all this week!
In the time that I was not at meetings or activities, I was
catching up with my kids so that they don’t resent me when they are 18, washing
dishes, making school lunches and taking care of the dogs. Regular people things.
So, I apologize if I have not returned your email this
week. I don’t hate you, you didn’t say
something stupid. I was just really
busy.
ACPA President, 2012-2013
Insightful and interesting post. I have a follow-up question for you: Were you the type of busy that make you think it will calm down a bit once you get your bearings, or the kind of busy that will always make you wish there were more hours in the day? I guess what I'm really wondering is if you believe that the VP position has a reasonable workload/ amount of expectations for one human being who also has "regular people things" you'd like to accomplish in a day's time.
ReplyDeleteI think the kind of busy I am now will slow down a bit once I have a better handle on the position and my new campus. It's too early to tell if the VP position has enough time to accomplish "regular people things" as you suggest, but I hope so. I also find that student affairs professionals have great ambition in new positions, and I count myself in this category, and we often make more work for ourselves than is necessary.
ReplyDelete