The Dean's List #7

What gadgets/apps/software do you rely on?

Obviously, I use Outlook. Excel and Outlook are open all the time, and I have a ridiculous number of bookmarks in my browser. The other one is the Insider page. It is my springboard for everything. I teach that one to my adjunct faculty. And then I use the employee resources link that's at the bottom of the Insider page, which takes you to, essentially, the District Insider page. The District Insider page is where you can get any of your forms, and all the hiring resources for each of the different bargaining groups.

How do you make sure nothing falls through the cracks?

I've been thinking about this question a lot. Obviously, it’s incredibly important for me to not have things fall through the cracks, but knowing that they're going to, what I try to do is at least know what's fallen through. That's where I’ll say, “OK, I know I didn't get this email sent out to the deans. It just didn't happen.” So, I will work really hard to make sure and get it the next time around. I think the other thing is, at any given point, just really looking at the priorities. I go by The Golden Three that someone told me on my first day of being a dean. [A former VPI once told the deans that their main priorities are student concerns, evaluations and enrollment management.]

What's the best lesson you learned the hard way?

That the things that frustrated me as a faculty member still frustrate me. There's not a lot that I can actually change. But what I think is different is that I'm sitting in a room with people who, if we collectively bring an issue up, we might be able to get something changed.

What did you think the job was before you got it?

I don't think I really understood how much of the time we are trying to make sure the day-to-day stuff that we are responsible for doesn’t touch anyone else. I remember telling a friend one time that I feel like I'm doing a good job if nobody knows what my job is, because it's when you're not doing your job that people know what your job is. It's when you didn't get a class in a classroom, it's when you didn't get something on the schedule, it's when you didn't get a performance review done, it's when you didn't deal with the student concern. It's when you don't do your job that people actually understand what it is you're doing.

What seemed important in the beginning that doesn’t now?

I think it was probably the fact that I did not have a lot of connections with the division before I came on board. There is one particular department in my division for which I do not have any context, and I very much worried about being able to hold my own in performance reviews. But what I have been able to do is learn the programs, learn the designators, all the courses. And I can talk to people about how to be better instructors without having to know the discipline.

I remember in a performance review, one of the department chairs was somebody that I had some experience with on a committee many, many years beforehand, and we had not agreed on the committee. So, I was kind of worried about how we were going to work together. Then we were doing a performance review, and we were in the review team conference and I’m saying, “So here's what I'm seeing. And here's this strategy that would really help out.” And he thought it was a great idea. There came a point where we were meeting with [the person being evaluated] and we were getting into the recommendations, and he said to the person, “OK, I see this coming up, but you know, she,” and he's pointing to me, “She's got some great ideas for how you can address this, and I'm going to steal them to use in my own class.” I’m a curriculum nerd, too, so I was able to say, “Hey, anytime you guys have questions …”

I've just tried to say, I’m here to support you. My job is to support you. So, what do you need? What's going to help? Because that's what I'm here to do.”

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Something to think about:

“There is a misconception that discipline, commitment, consistency are just another form of hustle culture, valuing productivity over well-being. But look at it this way: hustle culture thrives on the idea that whatever you’ve done is not enough. And we internalize that, neglecting well-being for the false promise of achievement. But when you have habits and rituals, when you are committed to your priorities, when you show up regardless, that’s the best way to know when enough is enough. You’ve completed the day, the small steps, and you’ve kept that promise to yourself. Being committed to the work actually means you can slow down. You know you’ve put in the time. There’s nothing left to agonize over. When you focus your efforts on showing up consistently, it frees you from having to be perfect. And it frees you from assuming the more you do, the more hustle you get into the day, the better. When you have a consistent plan, you know one step every day is better than bursts of work. And that is the most freeing antidote to hustle culture.” — Jamie Varon

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The Rabbit Hole (resources, content, etc. that are relevant to the job):

Lifehacker.com: How to Prioritize When Everything is Important

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