Been busy with FSLT and no time to update this little story. Though the stated date for my departure was set for June 30 as the normal year end for casual workers such as me, late afternoon Friday May 17 our new director of teaching and learning appeared in my office to say the date had been “mistakenly” given as June 30 when they actually meant May 22. No official reason stated then or given later as casuals, though we pay full union dues and have quasi-contracts signed by all parties, are not due anything in writing. There is a clause in the general agreement requiring stating I was to be given at least 20 days notice but expect that since the initial layoff included over 20 days the updated 3 day warning is going to stand under some bureaucratic algorithmic exception of error rule thing. As for the union? I’m one person, too bad for me.
Next project is unknown, though how people learn despite betrayal sounds productive.
My job ends on June 30. The college was expecting the first budget increase in a number of years to come in at about +2% (promised in the most recent election). Instead we are being cut about 7% plus losing 225 students in academic upgrading to a new public school model that will “allow” failing students to continue in high school until they are 21 on the assumption that eventually the same methods of teaching will work. Since most of our upgrade students have dropped out before HS and perform below 8th grade levels this move will essentially remove these people from any educational system.
As for exact numbers, staff let go are mixed in with staff being hired into the yet to be announced restructuring plan. Know are 14 instructors gone and many that are taking early retirement among the staff. Our department of “Learning Design and Technology” is to drop from 7 mixed staff to 2 instructional designers and ¾ of a media person. Two of us are gone, one is still on undetermined sick leave, 1¼ move to Public Relations. Many of the things we did are to be subcontracted out and it appears other positions across the college lost will be refilled by contract employees or casuals.
All these changes are the result of surprise government cuts and do not involve the college administration beyond having to figure out some way to save the college from collapsing. I have my opinions but they don’t help. This side of change is not the happy side where we go on to new and better things. This is where you have to force yourself to not be bitter and poison yourself—not easy. In addition we all have to function at some level until we are dumped and this includes helping those who will stay on. Please don’t assume I’m taking this with grace, many of the people surviving have never done anything beyond performing as expected and it is unfair that they survive and I’m gone.
As with all change, there are some positives but I’m going to have to think about them and not come up with some phony happy ending.
Interesting links:
Givers take all: The hidden dimension of corporate culture
http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/Organization/Talent/Givers_take_all_The_hidden_dimension_of_corporate_culture_3076
This article covers some very good points about helping teachers with technology. Observations in the replies are worth reading too:
How to Get Hesitant Teachers to Use Technology http://plpnetwork.com/2013/03/27/hesitant-teachers-technology/
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