This past week had been a week of delays for me as the bureaucracy that is Wichita State has been dominating my attention. That I even have time now to voice my complaints and frustrations when I should be busily solving the world's energy problems (at least a small subset thereof) is evidence enough.
Item 1 - New computers
I came to school on Monday to find the new computer I will be using in my simulations had arrived. By "find" I mean "eventually find somewhere on campus" as it took about an hour to locate them and get them moved to my desk. I spent the morning unpacking them, scrounging for a monitor that will work, and installing basic software. By the afternoon it was time to move on from basics and get the big, expensive software I'll be using installed. I go to the IT department to ask for the disks and find out that my work this morning has been out-of-bounds. Only the IT department can set up computers and I needed to turn them over for processing along with the list of software I would like installed.
I feel all hope draining from my soul. I'm ready right now to work on getting my computer up and running and am confident that if given this opportunity, I can be done by the end of the day. The IT department, on the other hand, has many other jobs on their plates (some with higher priority than mine) and may have the job done by the end of the week. Additionally, some of the software I would like installed is not available for general use, despite indications otherwise. Oh, and they need me to generate a work order so they can officially take on this task.
With heavy heart I wheel the computers to the IT department, like a father watching his children being sent off to a labor camp or prison. I might see them again, someday, and maybe they'll be better for it, but they won't be the same anymore.
Item 2 - Network access
This computer I just got is the first one I've had at my desk. When I was clandestinely setting it up Monday morning I discovered the network port at my desk didn't work. I submitted a work order to have the port activated and in the mean time, used a fifty foot cable to connect to a known working port elsewhere in the lab. Today I received an email today stating that this work order was being cancelled and I needed my supervisor or the department head to authorize the work. My supervisor is out of town and the department head probably has better things to do than submit work orders for network ports. We'll see when it gets done.
Item 3 - Timesheets
I don't know if something has changed recently but I also found out that this week that as a Graduate Research Assistant, I will now be required to submit a timesheet. I felt like the protagonist from "Office Space" as I received multiple emails each from a different person informing me of this, each with slightly different instructions for completing the form. The form needs to be printed out and signed by my supervisor who is out of town for a few weeks. The form needs to be turned in on Friday and include the time worked on Saturday. The form has no easy way of indicating that I have gotten very little done this week as IT has had my computer except to write in "0" hours for each day.
I'm in favor of accountability and actually appreciate the discipline of having to document the time I spend working for the school; I am being paid for this research I'm doing. I think this paper form is not the best way of going about this. This fall when I teach, I might be on the "supervisor" side of the form if I'm managing lab assistants. I doubt the experience will be any better.
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