Last spring, nearly everywhere I turned in higher education journalism, I saw articles about The Great Faculty Disengagement. Spurred by this piece from The Chronicle of Higher Education, scholars from a wide range of disciplines and university-types chimed in, openly sharing about high levels of burnout, stress, frustration and uncertainty.  Coming so close on the heels of the radical transitions necessitated by the height of the global pandemic, these testimonies made sense to me – and they confirmed what I was seeing in my friends and colleagues (and feeling for myself, even though I was not in the classroom last year): high levels of exhaustion, feelings of hopelessness, and a reluctance to engage.

This year, I’ve seen fewer of these types of pieces.  Even Chronicle coverage with headlines about how junior faculty are “leaning out,” is really about the ways that faculty are taking care of themselves, in order to continue to provide an excellent education for their students; and I appreciate that, a year out from the earlier reporting, we have pieces that look at structural inequality around workload and burnout.  This shift in reporting, coupled with increased participation in development opportunities my office is sponsoring, and the kinds of hallway and Painted Street conversations I’m having – makes me think that attitudes about our work seem to have leveled out.  They are, perhaps, even improving.  From my office in Howard Hall, I see a renewed energy and vibrancy around student learning, and heightened collegiality.

Have we, indeed, begun to ‘re-engage?’

If we have – if things related to work are returning to manageable – how can faculty and staff continue to adjust, and to adjust in ways that foster our well-being and thriving?

I rather stridently do not believe in work-life balance. In fact, I think work-life balance is a myth that only makes those of us who are juggling multiple responsibilities (Caregiving! Teaching! Needs of self! Research and Creative Activity! Committee work! What else?!) feel worse about our inability to juggle them all well.  So I almost hesitate to share this set of resources from THE Campus, because they do talk about how to strike and hold this balance – they also, usefully, discuss the various ways we can approach our work and non-work life wholeheartedly, integrally, and intentionally.  I especially appreciate the ideas around sequencing and prioritizing in the piece by Professor Lucas Lixinski from University of New South Whales, and the one by Prof. Stephen Harmon (Georgia Tech) about how his hobbies make him a better scholar – even though they’re unrelated to his academic work.

It’s in this spirit – the spirit of giving us time to talk about our teaching, breathe a little bit, think about our work, and share about our lives – that I host much of the faculty development that I do.  So, please start to plan ahead and endeavor to join us – in March and April we’ll be discussing The Great Upheaval on Thursday afternoons, and Air and Light and Time and Space on Friday mornings.  We can use that time to problem solve and brainstorm, share and celebrate.  And, if we haven’t re-engaged, if things don’t feel any more manageable – we can talk about that, too!

— Renée Cramer, Deputy Provost

Deputy Provost 2:10 (two articles with a read time of 10 minutes) is a communication series by Deputy Provost Renée Cramer sharing important scholarship, teaching, and development opportunities.