New academic year, transition to a new normal, back to a busy schedule with all sorts of meetings. Looking ahead, the academic calendar does not look good: early September to late July.
Quick message to administrators: Sarah Rose Cavanagh, Your Most Important Resource Is Eyeing the Door:
Some of the ideas for rejiggering the academic calendar are interesting. (…) But we need breaks to refresh, to renew, and to catch up on work. Professors have come to rely on official breaks for this rest since, unlike most professionals, we can’t take vacations for a week of our choosing during the semester. (…) If you mess with breaks, you also cut away at one of the few perks that an academic life has over other, more lucrative professions — namely, the flexibility of our work days. Teaching, scholarship, and service require long hours of effort. The benefit is that you may choose which hours you work and that you get scheduled breaks in between marathon stretches. As we transition to a new normal, we need to restore breaks during the academic year.