The search committee I'm on finished the third of its three interviews tonight, after some significant weather disruptions, and we should wrap things up next week. The admissions committee had its big meeting this afternoon, squishing itself into a gap between two search committee happenings because of this week's weather disruptions, and I am hopeful that our work is done.
I got 15 emails from students asking if they could attend class via Zoom today because of the snow. Fifteen! You guys! It is February in the Midwest! Where it snows! It feels like a "no good deed goes unpunished" situation. After the Groundhog Day storm we really did have an unusual amount of snow coupled with a shortage of local snowplow drivers, and I offered a one-time Zoom option. Maybe I shouldn't be surprised that so many students thought it was worth asking if I'd do it again. I am ready to be done with Zoom, except where I am required to extend a Zoom option. I'm going to remove the link from the course website to eliminate the unilateral decision-making by students who woke up late or whatever, and start replying with a screenshot of the relevant syllabus section.
So far this semester three students have emailed me to say that they thought there was too much snow for them to walk in. I received all three of these emails on days when I had walked to work myself and could say with certainty that conditions were reasonable both on and off campus. "If your concern is connected to a documented disability I would be happy to work with you," I tell them. But just between you and me and the internet, the thing I am actually thinking as I send those emails is "What the heck?!"
Anyway. I am tired. My students also seem to be tired. They seem furthermore to be more attached to their devices than they have been in prior years, which is saying something. This tendency of theirs is not alleviating any of my tiredness, gotta say.
I am hopeful that there will be a little more space in my head and in my calendar now that these big service responsibilities are winding down. And if not, there are only two weeks until spring break. We didn't have a spring break last year (I think because the university wanted to discourage students from traveling and bringing COVID back to campus) and so my last recollection of spring break is from 2020, when it was the week in which the wheels fell off. Let's hope the wheels stay attached to their axles this year.
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