Results of Budget Meeting and the Start of Finals

So the big news from the budget meeting last week is that my teaching will indeed be increased from 3-2 to 3-3. However, it's tough to be disappointed with that since the savings will fund promotions and merit increases (including mine) that otherwise wouldn't be funded. ("Oh, congratulations on getting associate prof. with tenure, but unfortunately we don't have money to pay you any more than a 1st year asst. prof.") Several of our lecturers are in jeopardy as well as one of our adminstrative assistants, and those jobs are a pretty big deal to our division. But I think after the dust settles in the Fall, 2009, things should be quieter, more certain. Of course, things would be much more certain if the economy improves. However, I asked point-blank if things like the reduced teaching load would be given back when the economy does turn upward, and the reality is that the faculty will have to fight for it all over again.



I gave my first of two finals today. Making slow progress on grading, but I can see it being done by the end of the week without too much difficulty. I graded final papers in one of my classes, and I definitely need to spend more time on how to write a research paper. These are seniors who have all taken research methods, but I guess I can't rely as much on that class as I thought. Some papers were good, but some missed the mark.



I'm scaling back my expectations for the next couple of weeks. I originally thought I'd have three or four things under review by Jan. 1, but that just isn't going to happen. Bummer. The problem is that it means I'll still be working on stuff in the spring, which will delay some new stuff that I wanted to have written up and in to NCA. I need to clone myself. Anyone familiar with that process?