Friends invariably ask, “So, Doug, how was your summer vacation?” “Boy, it must be great to have the whole summer off!”
Not to sound defensive, but what summer vacation? The administrative staff comes to work every day, works on budgets, projects, conferences, plans for the year, recruiting, event planning, fundraising, etc. The faculty may not be here every day, but they have a heavy research obligation. Papers submitted for publications are invariably rejected for revision and re-submission, which usually triggers additional research and documentation. Recruiting for new faculty requires a heavy agenda of interviews at academic conferences in the late summer period.
I must admit to enjoying a two week trip to China where we had a few days to visit museums and such. However, it was a whirlwind tour through four cities, visiting six universities to arrange exchange programs – my third such trip to China in two years.
It was a very enjoyable and productive summer, but a summer vacation it was not.
