Late January - I return for the new semester to teach in my usual computer classroom. It's been painted (very pretty curried squash color), but the back-wall whiteboard is missing. I submit a request asking if/when/can the whiteboard be replaced. I use the web-based request system that I've been instructed to use (clicking on a link called "Information Technology Service Center" and filling out a ten-field form that I have filled out many times before but which cannot retain my identifying information).
Late April - I receive a voice mail message regarding my request for the whiteboard, a nice man who notes that it's been a long time since I submitted the request. He says that I submitted the request to the wrong department and must resubmit to "Facilities," which I look for on the web-based request system. There, I find a link called "Plant Mainenance Service Center" with an ten-field form that's identical to the "Information Technology Service Center" form, except for the word "Maintenance" in the header. I must re-fill in all ten fields because this form does not recognize my computer. I submit my request again.
Even later in April - I receive an email notification from an Automated Mail Service that my request (called a "Work Order") has been completed. The notification reads as follows: "I reclassified this. It was submitted as a bulletin board request. White Boards are not covered by the policy. Status: Completed. Please do not respond to this email."
So now what do I do? Who is the "I" above? Will the white board ever show up? And who could possibly have mistaken a white board for a bulletin board?
Infrastructure and communication: two HUGE problems at my institution.
Evacuation roots
5 hours ago
2 comments:
This is a "go directly to your Dean, do not pass go, do not fool around with this silly stuff." card.
I've been there -- once you get rejected by both sides, the Dean is the only one who can take care of it.
Patty
Patty, imagine my surprise at finding a whiteboard on the back wall yesterday! Who would have thought it? Now if we could just get some dry erase markers . . . .
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