Adventures of a department chair.

I was department chair before - in my previous job at another college, so I knew a lot of this was coming.  But this is a different school, and certain things are different. 

First, there seem to be a lot more meetings that the department chairs need to attend.  I went to some of them in the spring, and another yesterday.  Two hours long and very tedious.  There are some old and pompous chairs whose purpose in life seems to be to split hairs about certain decisions.  I think I will need more caffiene next time. 

Second, the forms are different.  I have already sent forms to the wrong people, and I think someone re-did the form, as well.  That's OK with me.  I am sure whoever did it did a better job.  

Third, there is a program here called dual credit, in which certain high school classes follow the syllabus of a freshman college course, and receive college credit.  Due to the numerous staff changes, the dual credit procedures here are so disorganized and confused I could NOT find out what my department's dual credit offerings were supposed to be from anyone here!  So, I send emails to the high school principals, and got good, up-to-date information. 

So, what is the same?  Confused students are confused students everywhere.  A student came to me last week seeking permission to take a certain course for which he did not have the prerequisites.  As we usually do, I sent him to the course instructor to discuss it.  The student could not find the instructor (as classes had not started yet, this was not unusual), so I told the student to simply go to the class and talk to the instructor after class.  He came to me distraught yesterday, saying the professor did not appear for class.  The problem?  The class was a Tuesday/Thursday class, and he went to class on Monday, then wondered where everyone was.  After we discussed the problem, he agreed to attend the class on Tuesday morning.  He came to me again today saying the instructor was not there.  Turned out the class started at 8:15, but he didn't go until 9:20.  Duh.  This trend does not bode well for the student earning a good grade in the course (or any other).