{"id":49800,"date":"2019-10-17T02:03:45","date_gmt":"2019-10-17T09:03:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/world.edu\/?p=49800"},"modified":"2019-10-17T02:04:05","modified_gmt":"2019-10-17T09:04:05","slug":"49800-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/world.edu\/49800-2\/","title":{"rendered":"How to avoid being sucked into the black hole of administration"},"content":{"rendered":"<h4><strong><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-49801\" src=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/ofalltheforce.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"680\" height=\"425\" srcset=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/ofalltheforce.jpg 680w, https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/ofalltheforce-250x156.jpg 250w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px\" \/><\/strong><\/h4>\n<h4><strong>Basic physics<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>I\u2019ll admit that my knowledge of physics is largely confined to the theme song of <em>The Big Bang Theory<\/em>. Increasingly, however, I find myself staring into the electronic time suck that is my email inbox and thinking about Einstein\u2019s theory of general relativity. I wonder, in particular, if he was thinking of academia when he proposed that while the universe is finite, it has no limits.<\/p>\n<p>Certainly, time seems to warp into something akin to jelly when 349 emails spring up overnight. Some of these requests are easily resolved: a seating disruption in the refec (no action required); a book contract from a scam publisher (delete); an invite to the annual Turnitin Conference (delete and block). Other emails, however, are not straightforward. This morning, for example, I received five \u201curgent\u201d requests before my first class (which, by the way, is a 9am tutorial):<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>An online order form from the campus bookshop. \u201cBarbara Baynton is out of print. Can you please set a different text? Perhaps something we\u2019ve purchased previously? Something with reusability? <em>The Great Gatsby<\/em>, perhaps?\u201d The course in question is <em>Australian Stories<\/em>.<\/li>\n<li>A timetabling request from admin. \u201cYour Friday class is over-subscribed. Would you like to increase the quota, and if so, by how much? A second class is possible, but it will require a minimum enrolment of ten to be viable.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>A courtesy reminder from an over-ambitious first year. \u201cJust following up on the essay plan that I sent you on Sunday night. I\u2019m aiming for 100%, so hopefully I\u2019m on the right track? I also have some questions about Shakespeare and his metrical deviations. Is it possible to arrange a phone call with you to talk through the irregularities of iambic pentameter?\u201d<\/li>\n<li>A date claimer for the faculty breakfast. \u201cPlease click on the link below to register.\u201d The link in the email doesn\u2019t work.<\/li>\n<li>A meeting request from Alex in Outreach &amp; Events. \u201cAs you know, it was Open Day yesterday, and it\u2019s come to our attention that we accidentally sent you the wrong polo shirt (men\u2019s, extra-large). It would be great if we could meet, briefly, to discuss why the mix-up occurred. If you have a moment, we\u2019ve also included a feedback survey. Tell us: how did we do?\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The above would be funny if it weren\u2019t for the fact that reading and replying to emails has become the primary form of academic labour. Admin, and its panoply of pain, is the most pressing demand on my time. It is, in Einstein\u2019s words, a colossal black hole from which nothing \u2013 not even light \u2013 can escape. Even messages that can\u2019t be delivered bounce back.<\/p>\n<p>The problem, then, is a perceptual illusion: how do we measure what we can\u2019t see? And how do we manage things that aren\u2019t measured? For every type of visible work that I do (for example, delivering a lecture), there is a disproportionate amount of \u201cinvisible\u201d work that I must donate in order to complete the task on time (moderating papers, entering grades, reviewing coursework, attending meetings, updating software, digitalising resources, organising field trips&#8230;the list goes on). This admin work is not an optional add-on: it is, in fact, the work you must do in order to do your work.<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re in casual, hourly paid employment, the other problem is not an unsustainable workload, but, rather, the fact that you don\u2019t have a service workload at all. Not officially, at least. But while your students (bless them) will assess you on the quality of your teaching, they will mostly judge your email response time.<\/p>\n<p>When I first started tutoring, I used to worry that my reputation for ridiculously fast replies would, as one colleague warned, contribute to a toxic culture of overwork and unrealistic expectations. Now, when I open my inbox and begin the scroll of doom, I ask myself: \u201cWhen it is too late to reply to an email?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As an early career academic, the reality is that on most days, I spend more time \u201cdoing email\u201d than doing research. This seems to me a heavy bureaucratic burden: one that is reflective, no doubt, of my own lack of e-resilience, but one that is more symptomatic of a workplace where the constant injunction is to be productive \u2013 to publish or perish, to be discoverable or die \u2013 in a system that is not only structurally boundless but where work, by extension, is potentially infinite.<\/p>\n<p>I suppose, as Einstein said, it\u2019s basic physics.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Author Bio: <\/strong>Kate Cantrell teaches creative writing and English literature at the University of Southern Queensland.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Basic physics I\u2019ll admit that my knowledge of physics is largely confined to the theme song of The Big Bang Theory. Increasingly, however, I find myself staring into the electronic time suck that is my email inbox and thinking about Einstein\u2019s theory of general relativity. I wonder, in particular, if he was thinking of academia [&hellip;]\n&hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/49800-2\/\" class=\"more\">learn more&rarr;<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":49801,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[12884],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-49800","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-higher-education","tag-administration-2"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>How to avoid being sucked into the black hole of administration - World leading higher education information and services<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/49800-2\/\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to avoid being sucked into the black hole of administration - World leading higher education information and services\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Basic physics I\u2019ll admit that my knowledge of physics is largely confined to the theme song of The Big Bang Theory. Increasingly, however, I find myself staring into the electronic time suck that is my email inbox and thinking about Einstein\u2019s theory of general relativity. I wonder, in particular, if he was thinking of academia [&hellip;]\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/49800-2\/\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"World leading higher education information and services\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-10-17T09:03:45+00:00\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-10-17T09:04:05+00:00\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/ofalltheforce.jpg\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"680\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"425\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kevin\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kevin\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/49800-2\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/49800-2\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Kevin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/42c1c1d5ff7ffbdf0bd50ed94c6ae6ee\"},\"headline\":\"How to avoid being sucked into the black hole of administration\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-10-17T09:03:45+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-10-17T09:04:05+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/49800-2\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":785,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/49800-2\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/10\\\/ofalltheforce.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"administration\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Higher Education\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/49800-2\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/49800-2\\\/\",\"name\":\"How to avoid being sucked into the black hole of administration - World leading higher education information and services\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/49800-2\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/49800-2\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/10\\\/ofalltheforce.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-10-17T09:03:45+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-10-17T09:04:05+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/42c1c1d5ff7ffbdf0bd50ed94c6ae6ee\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/49800-2\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/49800-2\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/49800-2\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/10\\\/ofalltheforce.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/10\\\/ofalltheforce.jpg\",\"width\":680,\"height\":425},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/49800-2\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How to avoid being sucked into the black hole of administration\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/\",\"name\":\"World leading higher education information and services\",\"description\":\"Global Higher Education Jobs, University jobs, Lecturer &amp; tenure jobs.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/42c1c1d5ff7ffbdf0bd50ed94c6ae6ee\",\"name\":\"Kevin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1e8d491a5f9b9bf3db67c9e46abbba7bb06b26b458bd5025c55e0a4b9b60ea8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g8ba4c352a279c450aa9435d770c1ebf4\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1e8d491a5f9b9bf3db67c9e46abbba7bb06b26b458bd5025c55e0a4b9b60ea8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1e8d491a5f9b9bf3db67c9e46abbba7bb06b26b458bd5025c55e0a4b9b60ea8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Kevin\"},\"description\":\"Kevin is founder of the world.edu project. The past 28 years have been involved in publishing to the education sector in print and the internet. Kevin has a degree in Education and has a many years experience in developing companies and projects.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/author\\\/kevin\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How to avoid being sucked into the black hole of administration - World leading higher education information and services","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/world.edu\/49800-2\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How to avoid being sucked into the black hole of administration - World leading higher education information and services","og_description":"Basic physics I\u2019ll admit that my knowledge of physics is largely confined to the theme song of The Big Bang Theory. Increasingly, however, I find myself staring into the electronic time suck that is my email inbox and thinking about Einstein\u2019s theory of general relativity. I wonder, in particular, if he was thinking of academia [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/world.edu\/49800-2\/","og_site_name":"World leading higher education information and services","article_published_time":"2019-10-17T09:03:45+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-10-17T09:04:05+00:00","og_image":[{"width":680,"height":425,"url":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/ofalltheforce.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Kevin","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Kevin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/49800-2\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/49800-2\/"},"author":{"name":"Kevin","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/#\/schema\/person\/42c1c1d5ff7ffbdf0bd50ed94c6ae6ee"},"headline":"How to avoid being sucked into the black hole of administration","datePublished":"2019-10-17T09:03:45+00:00","dateModified":"2019-10-17T09:04:05+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/49800-2\/"},"wordCount":785,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/49800-2\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/ofalltheforce.jpg","keywords":["administration"],"articleSection":["Higher Education"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/49800-2\/","url":"https:\/\/world.edu\/49800-2\/","name":"How to avoid being sucked into the black hole of administration - World leading higher education information and services","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/49800-2\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/49800-2\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/ofalltheforce.jpg","datePublished":"2019-10-17T09:03:45+00:00","dateModified":"2019-10-17T09:04:05+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/#\/schema\/person\/42c1c1d5ff7ffbdf0bd50ed94c6ae6ee"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/49800-2\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/world.edu\/49800-2\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/49800-2\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/ofalltheforce.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/ofalltheforce.jpg","width":680,"height":425},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/49800-2\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/world.edu\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How to avoid being sucked into the black hole of administration"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/#website","url":"https:\/\/world.edu\/","name":"World leading higher education information and services","description":"Global Higher Education Jobs, University jobs, Lecturer &amp; tenure jobs.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/world.edu\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/#\/schema\/person\/42c1c1d5ff7ffbdf0bd50ed94c6ae6ee","name":"Kevin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1e8d491a5f9b9bf3db67c9e46abbba7bb06b26b458bd5025c55e0a4b9b60ea8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g8ba4c352a279c450aa9435d770c1ebf4","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1e8d491a5f9b9bf3db67c9e46abbba7bb06b26b458bd5025c55e0a4b9b60ea8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1e8d491a5f9b9bf3db67c9e46abbba7bb06b26b458bd5025c55e0a4b9b60ea8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Kevin"},"description":"Kevin is founder of the world.edu project. The past 28 years have been involved in publishing to the education sector in print and the internet. Kevin has a degree in Education and has a many years experience in developing companies and projects.","sameAs":["https:\/\/world.edu"],"url":"https:\/\/world.edu\/author\/kevin\/"}]}},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49800","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49800"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49800\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49801"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49800"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49800"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49800"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=49800"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}