This morning began with a slew of emails in response to an email I sent out the day before. It's a long story and probably more detail than I want to reveal. Suffice it to say, things here at TBU are just that Tiny and Backwards. The status quo 'We've done it this way for 20 years' isn't a convincing reason to me. Dn't hire new people to 'bring new life to the department' if you don't want that 'new life' to accompany some changes on your part.
The heart of this problems is I am being micro-managed in who I implement a policy that I am in charge of implementing. Further, the policy was designed (and implemented) by the entire department last year and as such, complaints about it now fall on my very deaf ears. And DON'T scold me about implementing the policy as it is designed and as I (as the overseerer) see fit. Also, when you set out a plan that involves me and my students, but fail to tell me about it...don't then blame me for keeping you out of the loop.
I know that this doesn't likely make any sense, but I am so very pissed off.
Finally (really finally, at least about this issue), don't criticize me for being a person who is productive and moves things forward. This is my job, my career, my tenure expectations, my future. Just because all of you with tenure are content to sit on your asses and never challenge yourself (or your students) to be better, to be bigger, to be more doesn't mean that I will sink to your embarrassingly low standards.
I feel like developing a new serenity prayer for those of us in tenure track jobs looking for something more. But I will keep mine secular in nature.
"Please grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
courage (and vitae and luck) to find a job where I don't have to change the things,
and the wisdom (and patience and lack of bitterness) to hold out until I can get another job."
Certainly, it lacks a little elegance (or a lot of elegance), but its a work in progress.
