I am on summer break. This is not paid leave. This is off-contract. It is a deliberate decision that I will not teach this summer and will not get paid a penny either. It's not so much the teaching that is the problem; it is the endless demands on my time that come with the teaching. Summer is when I write up research and prepare for the year ahead.
Emails sent to me are met with an autoreply. I will not be in the office to answer emails until August 10. But still the emails keep on coming. Students, not satisfied with my regretful autoreply, re-send their emails regularly. Students are so accustomed to having faculty on call 24/7 that I guess they are having a problem grasping the fact that we are not available for a few months. I really don't want to interrupt what I am doing to discuss last semester's projects or next semester's courses just yet. I realize that they want to plan, but I am not available to answer the questions right now.
Email makes communication too easy. And answering eats up your day. Not answering is one of the delicious pleasures of taking time off.
Until August...;-)
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