My current institution recently held its annual “State of the Union” address for the employees. I am learning that this is a necessary evil at some places because they can be pep rallies or funeral wakes. The administration touched on topics that were not pleasant but necessary, and they praised our small achievements. It is good to know that the leadership is trying to convey transparency to the best of their ability. I know I recently talked about this in another post, but this time I am taking a different perspective—kind of like how scholars from various fields examine the same text and uncover different meanings. I’ve met several researchers who made their careers using this method, so why can’t I?  

The last time I talked about this topic, I primarily focused on leadership methods; now, I want to focus on the audience. It’s that thing my communication buddies always like to talk about, even though they hardly think about it in their classes, and their students suffer. My father used to say that a contractor’s house always looks the worst because he focuses on fixing other people’s homes and never his own.

At our recent administrative address, there were a lot of humorous barbs thrown around about the current climate of the institution by the people in charge. This jocular tone is an unprecedented change of pace than I am accustomed to, and I think I like it. Leadership was not afraid to acknowledge some of our ugliness and used the occasion to illustrate a unique perspective: taking responsibility. It was nice to hear how they referenced previous strategies as unsuccessful or that they “downright sucked.” The powers that be did not shy away from the challenging issues and approached us with a sensible plan for the foreseeable future. 

To be clear, not all of their dad jokes landed. A few of them were so bad that they can’t even be considered step-dad jokes. At least they tried. Hearing levity in a room full of academics is rare in a political environment that appears antagonistic towards education.

This atmosphere starkly differs from the work culture I experienced at Remus College. Meetings there were more like funeral dirges as we moped into the auditorium to hear the powers on high make policy changes that made life worse for us. There were no jokes or any attempts at frivolity made at these meetings. It was incredible to think that in the course of an hour, a few comments made by leadership would push our morale so low that it was subterranean.

Most of the time, faculty looked like they wanted to die. Just imagine how much worse they looked when they discovered their health insurance rates were increasing and coverage shrinking. I remember when the school ignored overload pay and how miserable everybody got. Working six sections of a 30-student course is enough to push anybody over the edge, especially when there is no compensation. 

It almost feels like whiplash going from a place that always left me feeling more downtrodden as the day progressed to a place that can make light of their trials and push through them. I don’t know your institution’s situation, but I hope you are as fortunate as me. We are not in the most secure situations, but at least we can band together to make the most of our situation.

P.S. I am writing this while heavily medicated. I hope that this will make sense when I recover from this dorm crud that the students gave me.