Today I'm back in the office, after a year away from my position as Chair of our Environmental and Resource Science/Studies Department. I've enjoyed my sabbatical year: the research, writing, travel, time spent in New York at NYU. But it's good to be back in the Chair office � better, in fact, than I expected. (But don't tell my Dean that...)
One is required to get quickly back into the groove. I've been back for five hours, and am still working through the stuff that accumulated during the July 1 Canada Day holiday weekend. Some things need immediate attention. One of our most experienced part-time teachers has resigned (we rely on them to teach our professional practice courses), and so I need a replacement instantly. Our teaching assistant requirements for next year (we need about 60) need to be settled by Friday. And so on.
And of course there are lots of student issues. Our department has 650 students, in nine degree programs. With that many, there are always matters to be resolved. So far this morning I've had one student who tells me that three of her required courses next year are all offered on the same Tuesday evening; another who wants a grade reconsidered so that he can graduate; and another who wants to combine her Sustainable Agriculture degree with a year of study in Ecuador. Somehow, everyone gets what they need (if not always what they want).
Some of the issues are not so immediate, but still compelling. Our new Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems Program is growing nicely, but with the challenges that any new interdisciplinary program faces. Our degree programs are subject to provincial review this year � always a time-consuming task. And half our faculty will be retiring in the next five years; so the case needs to be made to senior administration that they must be replaced, with people that can carry the department forward for the next three decades.
And so on, this first day back in the Chair's office. I'm enjoying it!
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