I understand that working at a SLAC often means people will “wear many hats”. I was well aware of this during my time at Remus College. I taught full-time, oversaw a student organization, assisted with student video broadcasting, and served as chair or was involved in three different academic committees. Time was limited, but I still managed to do my lesson prep and grade my students’ work.

Even now at Romulus, I oversee eight academic clubs, events, and committees while still teaching a whole load of classes every semester. Honestly, I don’t know how I do it, considering how I still find time to write this blog, research, and my novels.

However, this isn’t about me (for once). This post is about a fellow professor whom I am worried Romulus is stretching beyond their mental and physical limits. We will call them Jordan. Romulus brought them to this campus to teach a set of courses, but over time, Jordan is barely able to fulfill their contractual obligations. This shortcoming is not their fault. Their distress stems from a series of administrative gaffes that put this poor soul in their current position.

I won’t go into the gory details, but Romulus fired somebody out of spite and placed Jordan into the beheaded’s full-time position while still working a stuffed work load. Now Jordan has to attend several functions and events that were not in their original contract. As far as I am concerned, these events have little to do with the teaching aspect and are more for show than anything else. These extracurricular obligations are so numerous that Jordan rarely has time to teach their classes. The funny thing is, Jordan moved into my building this past summer. I was expecting to see them way more than I ever did before. Now, I see them even less. When I do see Jordan, they look beyond tired. The bags under their eyes could probably hold enough clothes for a three-week vacation (not that anybody could afford such a luxury). Jordan’s absence is so bad that a thank-you card from three weeks ago is still lodged in their office door. That’s how little Jordan ever gets to come to class to teach. I’m sure the students don’t mind. The less they see of Jordan, the more likely they are to pass the class with little effort.

This fiasco is another one of Fearless Leader’s brilliant schemes to make Romulus look good to the community. While I agree that rapport between town and gown is essential, this is getting out of hand. If we are an institution of higher learning, why would we not let our faculty do the job Romulus hired them to do? It is yet another example of how looking good is more important than anything else. I just hope the administration has a soft, padded room for Jordan when they finally collapse from exhaustion.