I worked for a pretty big university here in the U.S. Not a premier research school, but pretty big nonetheless.
About a week before classes start, I get a call from the department head. They’re cancelling the classes in the specialization I teach due to low enrollment. He’s shuffled my schedule (expected) but one of my classes will be one I’ve never taught before and have absolutely no business teaching.
Now, mind you, this university has been going down hill for a while. Tenure was eliminated in all but name. Funding slashed. Class sizes exploded. Pressure increased to get federal grants to “make up the funding losses” while the school gives you absolutely no support in navigating the federal grant maze. No raises for years, except one small boost to make our salaries match a “sister school” that really wasn’t.
I told my department chair I couldn’t teach a course I knew nothing about. He relented and agreed to shuffle things around some more and put me in an old class I taught years back. I pulled out my old course materials, opened the textbook, started updating my old syllabus, and realized I just didn’t care anymore.
I’d been repeatedly fucked over again and again by these people and I was done. Honestly, I broke down and cried on my spouse’s shoulder for half an hour.
I called back the department chair and told him I quit. He said he didn’t blame me and wished me luck.
The silver lining? I now run my own software business (SaaS), get up around 10 am, add features whenever I feel like it, and draw a modest paycheck. My stress is way, way down and I’m learning to love my boss (me).
I worked for a pretty big university here in the U.S. Not a premier research school, but pretty big nonetheless.
About a week before classes start, I get a call from the department head. They’re cancelling the classes in the specialization I teach due to low enrollment. He’s shuffled my schedule (expected) but one of my classes will be one I’ve never taught before and have absolutely no business teaching.
Now, mind you, this university has been going down hill for a while. Tenure was eliminated in all but name. Funding slashed. Class sizes exploded. Pressure increased to get federal grants to “make up the funding losses” while the school gives you absolutely no support in navigating the federal grant maze. No raises for years, except one small boost to make our salaries match a “sister school” that really wasn’t.
I told my department chair I couldn’t teach a course I knew nothing about. He relented and agreed to shuffle things around some more and put me in an old class I taught years back. I pulled out my old course materials, opened the textbook, started updating my old syllabus, and realized I just didn’t care anymore.
I’d been repeatedly fucked over again and again by these people and I was done. Honestly, I broke down and cried on my spouse’s shoulder for half an hour.
I called back the department chair and told him I quit. He said he didn’t blame me and wished me luck.
The silver lining? I now run my own software business (SaaS), get up around 10 am, add features whenever I feel like it, and draw a modest paycheck. My stress is way, way down and I’m learning to love my boss (me).