Rumor is running rampant, among three or four people, that I’ve lost my sense of humor. Despite not having written any Trib articles lately, I can assure you my sense of humor is still intact. Fortunately, my parents left me with a legacy of humor that makes every day life and, (insult alert) every day people hysterical.
After eight years of writing Trib articles I’m finding it challenging to continue to link humor to the only two subjects I write about: classroom scheduling and final exams. Even Dave Barry would run out of material if that’s all he could write about. I’ve finally had to face the fact that for the last forty years I’ve been working in a Registrar’s Office. I believe I’ve sucked all the humor out of classroom scheduling and final exams that there is. It wasn’t a very fertile field to begin with. Yet I still need to disburse information and Betsy says I’m not allowed to use ‘blah blah blah’ more than once per article. (Oh no, I just wasted it!) I’ll do my best.
Today’s topic is: I’m Not a Mind Reader.
Email to DB: Can you please change three of my classes to smart classrooms?
DB Reply: Can you please tell me what you are teaching?
Email to DB: Sorry. Of course. I’m teaching all 101 courses.
DB Reply: Subject?
Email to DB: Wow. So sorry. English.
DB Reply: There are close to a million sections of ENG 101. Which courses specifically?
Email to DB: I’m sorry. Of course you need to know that. Here are my CRNs to speed things along—11111, 22222,33333,44444,55555.
DB Reply: And which are the three you want to change to smart classrooms?
Email to DB: Oh my. That would help wouldn’t it. The 9:00, 11:00 and 12:30 sections.
DB Reply: Eureka!!! P.S. Now there are now no smart classrooms left.
There is no formal room change request form; but my needs are simple and few.
Please make all room change requests via my MCC email. It’s easy to reply if I have questions (note above) and it gives me a trail of room changes in case something goes wrong. I’ll never do a room change immediately if you call so all I do is jot down the info and hope I don’t lose the scrap of paper. If the request is in my email I never lose it. Although that ‘delete’ button is always beckoning me.
I need to know what class you want to change and where you want to go. I don’t need a long explanation of why you need to change because if I can find you what you want I’ll give it to you regardless of why you want it. I made a room change several years ago for a professor who was assigned a classroom that ‘gave her the creeps’. I changed it no questions asked. I also made fun of her for years afterward but that’s not important. A perfect room change email would be:
I need a room change for ENG 101-543 (CRN 11111) to a smart classroom. I also need a document camera. The check is in the mail.
Disclaimer: I always use ENG courses for my examples. ENG 101 is my default course. All the weird things I report are not confined to the ENG department. I know (pray) they have a sense of humor and don’t take it personally.
Deborah Benjamin
Registration and Records
08/21/2013 |