I could stand under an elven waterfall and cry musically

[extemporanea]

I sometimes stop to wonder if any of my readers could possibly be interested in the trials and travails of large-scale administration, and then I think that, if nothing else, there's always schadenfreude. Besides, it's an interesting challenge: if I can be entertaining about advisor timetables, then NOTHING is beyond me, the world is in my grasp! (

Comments

[xavierxalfonso]

Gaahh! Though, how very pleasant to have it have nothing to do with you. Perhaps the printers will be working over the weekend...

At my very own cherished institution, we recently (and suddenly) discovered a (very large) shortfall of supervisors for master-level dissertations (students are due to be told who their supervisors are in the next couple of weeks (you can request someone, but it's an allocation system)).
It came to light when I asked questions about my work-load - being new, I have a soon-to-expire licence to ask stupid-sounding questions. I'm glad I did ask: in the previous reality, I'd have ended up supervising more students than I could count on my fingers and toes - and there would still have been a gap in staff capacity. Still, I don't think the coordinator of my particular academic group is interested in being my friend any more...

[extemporanea]

Oh, dear, supervisor shortfalls are the worst. That's how I end up supervising three or four Honours dissertations every year, unpaid. I like doing it, and the dept. is desperate - the popular supervisors have 20 or so dissertations on their books. Like you, fingers and toes. I'm glad you dodged that particular bullet, supervision is surprisingly time-consuming.

[dancing_crow]

In our news I hear of things happening in South Africa and think "oh, that is going on over Extemporanea's head, maybe." The most recent thought was over the huge storm-that-would-be-a-hurricane-were-it-in-my-hemisphere off the south and west coast of Africa. In is soothing to hear of administrative disasters, rather than natural disasters happening to you, although I'm sure you might not agree.

[extemporanea]

Weirdly, that big storm off Mozambique isn't really affecting us. We have heatwaves at the moment rather than high winds.

I agree, other peoples' administrative disasters are curiously soothing :>. Particularly as an alternative to the more wide-scale disasters of which you speak.

[jeanniewal]

Surely that must count as an "only in South Africa..." screw-up?? Sigh.

I have never been able to use the word unguents since Terry Pratchett had Nobby Nobbs talking about "scented ungulants". I think it was in Jingo.I use scented ungulants on my hands occasionally :)

[extemporanea]

Gosh, had forgotten about that Pratchett instance, it's probably informing my random association. I, too, am fond of scented ungulants. And Terry Pratchett.