What does the next five years hopefully look like for me? Well I hope at about the end of 5 years there is a full time job for me in the department I am in. I am very happy with where I am right now, not working full time for the university. The university is a huge engine with code of conducts, special places you submit things that are broken and need fixing, different committees and even just a random huge number of people who are technically my bosses. That being said some of the goals I would like to have in the next five years are as follows.

  1. Understand who runs the university organization. Who are all the different department leaders? Whose role is what at the university? What are all the different dean roles (why are there so many) and who are the deans? What employees are in TRUFA and what is that? What employees are not in the union? What are all the roles the university is always trying to fill in the university? To find out all the answers to this I am legit just going to have to do a paper. I will spend some time writing down my questions just like above, and use everything I have to find out the answers. Maybe a fellow instructor will actually help me with this. It could be a great resource for new instructors like myself to help them get acquainted with university dynamics. It’s easy to measure my success on this. If you ask me any question to do with staffing at the university departments, I should be able to muddle an answer. Even just knowing what department I teach in, who my dean is and what their role is would be an improvement.
  2. I would like to have a close to full time position at the university. That is the path I am headed down already. I am currently waiting in the trenches, updating my schooling. If for some chance I am unable to get a job in the department I am in, I feel I can easily switch to electrical instructor. So my goal though is to be in the role I am now, just a little less than full time (waiting on retirements). But that is really a big goal. I fill my spare time with electrical side work, and other odd jobs, so that I can always be available when the university calls. That includes all my other jobs, knowing the university is my primary source and that I have a preference to them. This goal is obviously measurable by achieving the goal. Some mini goals along the way though are getting right of first refusal for the content I actually teach already. I must have my PIDP done before I can even apply for that right of first refusal, I am working on that currently.
  3. I want to learn autoCAD or something similar (Sketchup). I have another teaching side job, in which students build different wood working projects with me. I want to be able to make prints that show what we are building with the actually measurements and 3D model of it. Cabinets and sheds and all in between. This is totally do able. I am not sure yet if I will do it online through free youtube courses or if I will try and find an online course to buy and learn. I did some poking and nothing really jumped out at me for AutoCAD online classes. If there is something online I will apply for Professional Development Funds to pay for it. If I can’t get that and it’s expensive, I will just do the free courses on Youtube. I will be excited to complete my first drawings online and this will help me out in my other teaching jobs, as well as I can see being able to use it with the university as well. Tying it into lesson plans for the students to really test their diagrams building skills and it will be a funner class day. Or maybe it’s just me who thinks it will be fun (as I’m learning during this course).
  4. I want to stay out of the politics of the university. Staying home with kids really makes it easy to get back to work and not gossip. I just want to go to work and do my job, I don’t want to talk about fellow employers. I do understand it’s a trap you can fall into. I am going to do the best I can to not do that. How can I measure that. Do I talk about other workers badly behind their back? Do people keep feeling like they can complain about others to me? If I do not engage, people doing bad behaviours like those should stop. I will have to self reflect on this often. Do I come home and complain to my husband about how bad some people are at work? If I’m complaining to my husband that’s also a loss on this goal. I need to just make sure to “brush your shoulder off”.