If you work at a university in any capacity - custodian or president - you will attend meetings. Some people like meetings because they get paid for sitting around and talking or listening. Other people don't like them because they're a waste of time that could be spent on other efforts, such as teaching.
We had a department meeting at 8 a.m. today. It was fun chatting with my colleagues and laughing at the occasional wisecrack. But, frankly, most of the business could have been handled through e-mail. We didn't vote on anything and didn't make any decisions. But we did take an hour and 15 minutes to do essentially nothing.
Universities are fueled by meetings, many held by various committees. Everybody is expected to serve on a committee. I'm on two department committees now and in the past have served on committees at the college and university levels.
Committees are supposed to study issues and then make recommendations. Sometimes the powers that be go along with those recommendations. Other times, they reject them. Ultimately, all of the big decisions are made by a handful of powerful people - the president, provost or Board of Trustees.
The University of Wyoming is so obsessed with committees that there's even a Committee on Committees (I am not making this up). Imagine attending one of those meetings. Pass the caffeine pills, please. I mean the whole bottle.
There's got to be a more efficient way to run things. With current technology, we should be able to have virtual committees where we can take care of business with blackberries, ipods, cells, PDAs or other mobile devices. We could meet in our homes, cars or while waiting for the university's buses.
Let's hold a meeting on that.
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