Casual Voices: Geoffrey
Well it's that time of year again when we go cap in hand to beg for work. I feel like Oliver asking - "please Sir, can I have some more ?". If we are rewarded with some casual tutoring work for semester then begins the arduous task of ensuring contracts are signed in time (if they are prepared at all, they are only usually available a few days before you start teaching) and organising access to rooms. This year, my school has no available keys for the cramped casual tutors room - they ran out! So, again, when I want to use the tutors room, which is shared usually by around 10 others, I get to go cap in hand again, and ask to use the room. Imagine if that was a permanent staff member!
And that's respect for you!
Geoffrey Brown
Comments
[ 0 ] In my Faculty, there are two (one-person) rooms set aside for tutors' use. I think we've got about 60 casual tutors. The large number of tutors means that the Faculty administration can't give everybody a workroom key, so there are keys stored at the Faculty office (which is, of course, in a different building). If I want to do some marking or other process that requires confidentiality, the procedure is to go to the next building, go to the Faculty office, rootle around to find a workroom key, sign it out, go back to the workroom, do my work, then go back to the Faculty office and sign the key back in.
Like • Dislike •For obvious reasons, the keys go missing all the time. If there's no key available, I can't use a workroom. If it's after hours and the Faculty office is closed, I can't use a workroom. If two other tutors are already using a workroom, I can't use a workroom. If I want somewhere to store stuff between classes, I'm completely out of luck.
I asked why we can't replace the key system with a swipecard system and was told that doing so would cost too much. Now we've already got smart staff ID cards which are used for library access and to get into some of the teaching spaces, so it's not like the technology isn't there -- it's just that casual tutors' time and energy simply does not register on the Faculty as something they need to care about.
So yes, if your institution has a tutor room that they've even tried giving everybody a key to, I'd say you're being treated pretty well.