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I should not feel bad about this! LONG VENT
Argh! I am feeling bad about something at work that I totally should not feel bad for and I need to vent!
When I started my job last August, they hired me without having an office to put me in (my position was new, and office space is at a premium at this school). So, my supervisor found an empty office that was being used for storage by some of the administrative assistants and cleared off some space on the desk for me to use until they found me a permanent spot.
Well, weeks turned into months and it became clear that i was not moving - no one with the authority to do so had made any progress in finding a permanent place for me. One of my higher bosses even told me it was time to order a name plate for the office suite and for my door, which leads me to believe that this is my permanent spot.
The problem is that half of my office is still being used as storage. Over the year I managed to condense everything that doesn't belong to me into two HUGE bookshelves and a stack of stuff on the floor. So, half of the office just has my stuff, and the other half is not mine. Mind you, this is a small office.
Part of my job is to counsel students. I have students in and out of my office ALL DAY. They always make cracks about how my office is a storage closet, and one of them told me it was depressing! Enough is enough - it's been an entire academic year and no one has even tried to get their crap out of here.
So, I contacted buildings and grounds and told them I had stuff that needed to go to storage. They came today and said they could get it all out tomorrow. Yay!!!!
But then they asked the admin assitants where they wanted the stuff stored, and the admin asstant who is in charge of most of this stuff got all annoyed, like this was a HUGE burden on her. She acted like it was my fault - that this was supposed to be a "temporary" office and that's why her stuff is still here, and she is too busy to find a place for it and organize it, and she NEEDS all of it close to her and doesn't want it going to storage because it will get lost.
And now I am left feeling bad that I am asking to move this stuff because I am burdening other people - but at the end of the day, this is MY office and it is halfway filled with other people's stuff! Not to mention that other people will just let themselves in my office when I am not here, or come in and start shuffling through shelves when I am here to get stuff that they need. That is not cool - I have confidential student files in my office!
Anyway, I am just irritated that, after a whole academic year of storing this crap for other people, they are acting like I they are shocked that I need to clear out MY office. I feel like I have been patient enough, and the longer I am "patient" the longer everyone will just ignore the fact that I am working in a storage closet.
Ok, rant over.
Re: I should not feel bad about this! LONG VENT
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TTC Journey
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7/24/2011- herbal tea regime = surprise BFP
that's the thing - she doesn't use most of it, and she also doesn't use the stuff that is stored in the actual storage room in our suite. If she just went through it and tossed the things she didn't need, she could store it all in appropriate places. But she's complainig that she is too busy to go through all of it.....so I am supposed to sit in here in a storage room for a year because she is busy??
Unfortunately, the only person who is really "in charge" of the situation is the main dean of the law school - she has said she wants to build a suite for my department and move me and my supervisor there - but that's been all talk for a while, and by the time they actually do any of that it will be years and years and years from now.....
So, I have learned that I need to help myself in the meantime.
Bubblegum Explosion
Exactly - I see more students than most other faculty and staff at this school because that is part of my job description. So, if anyone should have a nice office, it should be me! And I'm not complaining that it is the size of a shoebox - I know i'm the low man on the totem pole around here and I don't mind being in a small space. As long as it is clean and clear of other people's things.
I've tried to decorate and spruce it up to be as little depressing as possible - but it's impossible to ignore the entire wall full of junk that opresses you when you come in. :-(
And I just walked out of my office and heard that admin asst complaining to another about how "there is just no space to put these things!" I know she is mad at me for doing this now, but buildings and grounds told me they need to do it this week or I will need to wait until after graduation because they will be too busy. I've waited enough, I am ready now!
Oh, this really sucks - I'm sorry you have to deal with this. But, definitely agree with the others. Stand your ground and make sure, since your office is now more of a long-term 'temporary', that it is cleared of all the other co-workers stuff. Ugh - just ignore her complaining, some people just need to learn to step up and be helpful not hindering.
I would still go ahead and have the stuff put into storage. She has had more than enough time to retrieve her files and other things. If anything is that important, she can just recall it from storage.
Good for you in trying to decorate your space to brighten it up. A year is no longer considered "temporary".
As a side note, I just wanted to say that it is awesome that you are a professor and counsel students. From a student's perspective, it is always nice to have another young person as your mentor (since you actually remember what it was like and "get" it), and the fact that you have reached this position at such a young age is inspiring! I used to be an academic advisor in college, and I loved it.
So there you go, your feel-good moment of the day
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I would have just packed her *** up and shipped it off to storage without asking her. She probably would have never even realized it was gone. PITA co-workers. =/
What you are experiencing is the absolute territorial nature of teachers/profs. It took one year for another teacher to move his crap (yes, it was all junk) so that I could have one shelf to put some books and a place to put my papers. I have never had so much drama than with classrooms and offices and the like. I actually had a teacher tell me that I stole her classroom the other day. (You know, the one the school owns and I just happen to use.)
It's the same with offices. There is never enough space for everyone and people forget that the small space they have needs to work the best for everyone. I'm sorry, but her stuff in your space should have been moved a long time ago. If she really needs the time to go through it, she can put it in her own office for the time being. The fact is, she should be embarrassed that it took this long for it to get dealt with and that it was you who had to make the phone call.