I have a cold. I realize that news is not exactly earth shattering or unexpected this time of year. But still, I don’t like having a cold. You can’t go anywhere without a pocketful of tissues. When people realize you have a cold they treat you like you are carrying typhoid or the bubonic plague. Even close friends give you a wide berth as they make sympathetic little comments.
Of course this time of year I am use to my faculty colleagues giving me a wide berth in the hallways. Usually if they see me coming they duck into the nearest open doorway. I try not to take it personally, I know the behavior is driven by the fact they owe me assessment data at the end of the term. I send out regular emails this time of year subtly encouraging faculty to turn their assessment data in at the end of the term before they get away from campus or before they get too caught up in preparations for next term. I think I’m trying to be helpful, but I am afraid my colleagues think of it differently.
One solid reason for gathering your data immediately at the end of a semester is it allows you to capture anything unique about the semester. The extra guest speaker you had this term that shortened one of your modules. Or the emergency family situation that caused you to have a colleague fill in. Capturing this auxiliary information along with your assessment data can be an important piece of the puzzle when you sit down to analyze your assessment data, and if you are like me, anything I don’t capture now is gone by the time I get to the data in the summer.
SO, to my ducking colleagues, it is okay, I don’t take it personally, but let’s get that data together now, before you go on break. You’ll be glad you did, and I won’t feel quite like Typhoid Mary, although I do still have a cold.
