Conflict of (non) interest?

Tomorrow, there is going to be a meeting about a very important issue which involves our department.  Thus, the department needs a representative to be present to clearly convey the departmental requirements/point of view and ensure that these are understood and taken into account.  Due to logistical reasons, the meeting is scheduled during a weekend.  As almost all my colleagues are on leave, I have to be present in the meeting.

Members of my department have had serious discussions about this matter and we have a proper plan of action.  So, technically speaking, I am prepared for this meeting.  As a responsible member of the department, I will do my best to convey the above requirements.  But, I am a little concerned that tomorrow's meeting might come to a final decision about this matter.  This is because I personally will not be affected by the outcome [I am leaving N1 in less than a week].  Members of my department, who will be affected by the outcome, may later feel unhappy with the decision.  Some may also feel that I did not push our department's interests strongly enough because I do not have long-term stakes in the matter.

It did not help at all when both my father and guest writer, on hearing about this meeting, advised me to take it easy and not get involved. "Just keep quiet during the meeting and don't react to anything," my father said.

I just called a colleague and requested him to go for this meeting instead, explaining my concerns.  Due to some urgent personal issues, he can't do so.  We once again went over the main points that need to be presented tomorrow.   He suggested that if there is any confusion, I can call him up to clarify.

It is possible that no final decisions will be taken tomorrow and this meeting is to just set the ball rolling, so to speak.  Apart from representing the department, I also need to communicate the outcome of the meeting to my colleagues so that there is no misinformation or gap in communication later.

This will be my last meeting at N1.  I just wish it weren't so important [1].





[1] On a totally unrelated note, it is not clear to me if one should say "I just wish it wasn't so important".  So, I googled and came across websites which talked about indicative mood vs subjunctive mood, formal vs informal, but am still confused.  Any help, blogosphere? 

Feeling the pulse - II

In a previous post, I started writing about my attempts to "feel the pulse" of N1.  In the last couple of months, N1 seems to be making the transition from a small school where everyone knows each other and a lot of things work informally to one where a system is evolving for all academic activities and administrative procedures.

In my previous post, I had expressed some concern that as the system becomes more formal, our senior administrative functionaries (both academic and non-academic) may not be as approachable anymore.  I now realize that my fear was unfounded.  Once a proper system is in place, the approachability of the seniors does not diminish- what diminishes is the need to approach the senior administration for every small thing.

Let me give you a very amusing example.  A few days after I joined N1, our department invited a senior professor for delivering a seminar talk.  The professor requested for transport arrangements between his residence and N1.  When I requested our transport in charge for arranging a vehicle, he told me that in principle, the honorarium to our speakers includes their transportation expenses.  If I want transport arranged for any speaker from the institute's side, I should take permission from the director.  I was very surprised and it took me a lot of courage to write to the director for such a trivial matter.  The director sent a one word email saying "approved", but I realized later that the transport IC could have definitely arranged this (without my writing to the head of the institute).  But, unlike his predecessors at this job, he was unwilling to take any action on his own in the absence of any written framework.  So, he cleverly deflected the job to another new and clueless person (me) who also did not know what was the right thing to do.

Soon after this, a form and instructions for requesting transport were uploaded on our intranet page.  If we need vehicles for any speaker/visitor, we simply fill up this form and submit it to the transport section, which then takes care of getting the necessary approvals etc.

Evolution of a proper system does not necessarily mean longer procedures and more hierarchy.  It simply means that every individual in the system is aware of his or her role in getting any job done, clearly understands how the job is to be done and that everything does not land up on the table of the director!! A proper system means that if you submit a requisition for something, the office assistant knows precisely what to do with it (or can readily refer to a handbook if unaware of the procedure) and will not toss back the requisition saying "I cannot do anything unless you get it approved from the authorities."
Such a system balances the job allocation among all members of the institute and also makes everyone accountable.

However, it also means that some requests cannot be entertained overnight.  Every so often, there is a clash between those who want something immediately and those who have to ensure that the request/suggestion is forwarded through the right channels.  Very frequently, there are also differences of opinions between those who like to have every little thing put down on paper and those who would instead like to move forward with the essentials.  This occasionally leads to frayed tempers during committee meetings or even informal discussions between people.

But, it is great if people debate and discuss these issues with an open mind and not overkill the issue by making it a "bureaucracy versus academic freedom" fight.

Roller coaster

Last month has been a roller coaster ride for me, both personally and professionally.  It started with incidents which made me seriously evaluate my professional needs and personal well being at N1 vis a vis what N1 expects from its employees.  There were also some episodes,  specific to an expanding new institute, which were sometimes exciting, occasionally frustrating and sometimes, just confusing.

This post is going to be about a lot of things because I am not focused enough to just write about one issue right now!

Immediately before Dussehra, I found myself spending a lot of time in committee meetings. Now, in principle, I have nothing against committee meetings - a lot of them are about framing or revising rules and regulations about various aspects of N1, for example, our academic programmes, disciplinary code of conduct, various issues that come up as an institute moves from a transit campus to a permanent campus, faculty welfare etc.  I have gained valuable experience by being actively involved in these committees and like my other colleagues, have been able to bring up many important points which I feel strongly about.  The only thing that I don't like about these meetings is that they take precious time away which could have been spent in research work or preparing for a class.  But, I don't think it is reasonable to complain about this because there are other members who have many more responsibilities than I do.

I also get routinely inundated with a lot of complaints from students about various problems.  I sympathize very much with students and bring up their genuine problems at the appropriate forums as soon as they are brought to my notice.
However, sometimes there is a delay in the resolution of the problem partly, because administrative procedures take their own time and partly because the authorities concerned may not take the problems as seriously as one would want them to.  Students, on the other hand, become impatient and want quick fixes!   Recently, I have had to be very firm with some of these students, asking them explicitly not to interrupt me when I am on my way to a class and also not to call me up at night unless there is an emergency.  Then, they are quick to jump to the conclusion that faculty members do not care for them.  This is very annoying.

The Dussehra holidays were very eventful for me, personally.  My brother got married and it's great to have a new member in the family.  It was also a lot of fun to meet many family members and cousins who I meet only during weddings!
During the wedding, I was given the responsibility of co-ordinating with the guest house where all our relatives were staying and also arranging for pick up and drop off of all guests.  According to my father, I was most suited to do this task because of my experience with organizing conferences and hosting seminar speakers at N1!

After I returned to N1 after the wedding,   I got some great news from the department.  We have been given a lot of money by the institute and will now be able to spend comfortably on a lot of things that we wanted, for example, our own library and new high-end computers for the department!  I am particularly excited about having the freedom to invite lots of rock star seminar speakers from all over India.
We will also host another winter school in December.

In a few minutes, I will leave for my home town to celebrate Diwali with my family.  I was initially planning to stay back at N1, but last night, I realized that I have not spent Diwali with my family since 1999 and it just doesn't make sense to be in the same country as my family and still spend it alone.  So, I made last minute flight bookings and surprisingly, got a really good deal!  I am looking forward to all the fun we will have at home,  to spending time with my sister-in-law and also, to possibly catching Ra.One (that is, if it manages a Diwali release).

Here's wishing all my readers a very happy and auspicious Diwali !!

Colleagues: In league/out of league?

After arriving at N1, my next step was to meet my colleagues.  I had already met some of them during my job interview and had gone back with an overall positive impression.  My job visit coincided with Republic Day, which was celebrated at N1 with flag hoisting, followed  by a countryside picnic and a cricket match between faculty and students.  It was good to meet future colleagues in these informal surroundings.  I did not hesitate to approach them and ask them frankly what they thought of N1 and how they were getting along there.  Many of them equally frankly answered all my questions and their answers presented both the advantages and disadvantages of starting a position at N1.  "Wow," I thought, "these people are so candid and not the phony/politically correct* types."
After joining, however, I realized that this had changed.  Many of the same colleagues were surprisingly very formal, unlike their previous avatars.
The chairperson was very warm and welcoming** and after signing my joining report, explained the administrative protocol in detail.
The day after I joined, there was an institute faculty meeting, attended by members from all departments at N1.  This was the first faculty meeting of my life and despite reading FSP's take on faculty meetings, I was very excited.  All new people, who had joined recently, were introduced by the director at the beginning of the meeting.
As I looked around, I was pleasantly surprised to see a much higher number of women than I had ever seen in STEM fields in North America.  True, we were all young, but so were almost all the male faculty members.  I suppose this is an advantage of joining a new place.  When you are building something from scratch and actively looking for talent, gender discrimination takes a back seat.  I discovered later, in the course of the meeting, that N1 also provides on-campus day care facilities for the children of its employees.
Impressed with this, I whispered to a (new female) colleague sitting on my right about the above average female representation in our faculty.  While my colleague did not share the same enthusiasm as me (or at least pretended not to), the director, on my left, overheard this and pointed out to me that the phrase "female faculty" was not polite language.  "Women faculty members" or "lady faculty members" are more acceptable terms of reference. I smiled thinking about FSP and how she or other North American FSPs would react on being called "lady faculty".
But, it was a good lesson in cultural differences on the use of language. Interestingly, the two-body problem, in Indian academic circles is usually called the "dual career" problem.
Strangely enough, after the meeting, I did not get a chance to talk to many people.
I was puzzled when I found myself standing all alone trying to look for familiar faces.
My handful of departmental colleagues greeted me, but moved on to talk to others.
There was some confusion about how we will all get back to our offices, which was far away from the meeting venue.  At this point, the director asked if anyone wanted a ride with him.  I wanted to discuss something with him and thought this would be a good time. As we drove back, I mentioned to him that I would like to organize a winter school for undergraduate students during the winter vacation.  He promptly approved this plan.  He also invited me and my father to join him for dinner that evening.  Needless to say, I was excited to be working under such a friendly and approachable director.  But I was a bit worried about my future relations with my fellow academic colleagues as they did not come across as particularly friendly that day.  In my second postdoc position, I had hardly made any friends and felt isolated***.  I was upset at the prospect of this happening again.
I had grown up in a culture where as soon as you arrive at a new place, your neighbors assume an easy familiarity, come over to welcome you and generously provide you all the help and information that you need.   But, that was different from what I now encountered.  I did not need any help from anyone, but it would have been good if people could smile and talk to me for a few seconds.
Next morning, I woke up with the thought that it was too early to jump to conclusions.  Perhaps, the parameters of social interaction were different at N1 and I would just have to get used to it.
For example, it seems that at N1, walking up to someone and introducing yourself is not common practice!  It only makes the other person confused about what to say.  A more acceptable form of interaction is to be introduced by a third person.
For that whole month, I found myself on my own.  Of course, there were more important things to take care of, like preparatory paperwork, setting up home etc.
Besides, I was too busy basking in the glory of a new found "real" faculty position to complain about feeling isolated.  My domestic help was my only social life in those days :) She gave me a tour of the local markets where I could buy groceries etc and told me a lot about the history of the place and life in the locality.
Just before the teaching semester started, many of my department colleagues returned from their summer travels and it felt good to be part of a big group.  We had a couple of departmental meetings to design our course syllabi and plan out the graduate program, which would soon start.  One remarkable thing that I have noticed at N1 is that all kinds of meetings are conducted very well.  Everyone gets a chance to talk and put their views across.  I am a member of several committees, but so far, no colleague, senior and junior, has ever attacked me, stopped me from expressing my opinions or treated me like a secretary.  It was during those meetings and the tea after the meetings that I got to know my colleagues better.
They were more friendly now and much more approachable.  Gradually, they also started opening up more and did not weigh their words as carefully as they seemed to do before.
To summarize, overall, I am happy with the way my professional relationship with colleagues has turned out.  We are helpful and work as a team.  In my department or in other committees of which I am a member, so far, nothing has happened to cause any deep divisions or resentments.  By the time the institute is old enough for such things to happen, I suppose I too will be old and robust enough to deal with them.
My social interaction with colleagues on a personal level, however, has been very limited.  I don't feel too bad about it because I am happy that we talk to each other amicably and now, somewhat freely, in the institute.  There's no hurry to make friends.  If I feel the need for reaching out personally to someone, I contact my immediate family or grad school and postdoc friends from North America with whom I am still in touch.  Or I blog :-)
As always, I welcome feedback from readers about their experience in adjusting socially to new places.
My next post will be about getting involved in institute activities.





*: At that time, I thought that being phony and being politically correct go with each other.  Now, with a few months of experience, I realize that while being phony is someone's personal choice, being politically correct is necessary for survival!
**: This pleasantly surprised me because he was very formal and aloof during my job visit, although certainly not rude or condescending.
***: In retrospect, a lot of this isolation was self-imposed.