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i will not apologize for having been right
Feb. 3rd, 2006 01:41 pmso this morning, at 10:45 when i'm just about to head out for a meeting with my supervisor, i see the following e-mail, timestamped 8:12 am and flagged 'urgent':
i read it three times, to make sure i wasn't missing anything, and then sent the following reply, cc'd to the tutor himself and the bursar, who is the admissions secretary's immediate supervisor:
(i add the signature for e-mails sent both within and outside college in my official capacity as student president, of course, but also for e-mails sent to college staff when i'd like them not to forget that i'm not shy about expecting students to be treated with a scintilla of respect, you know what i'm saying?)
and when i came back from meeting my supervisor, i had a message from the secretary (to me, no cc's) saying I did think I'd apologised for not giving you a lot of notice (my internal monologue: dude, 'short notice' is 'by the way you have this meeting tomorrow', not 'good morning, come to a meeting right now'!), as well as one from the tutor (cc'd to the secretary and the bursar and apologising for the mix-up) and two from the secretary (to me, no cc's, no apologies for the mix-up) advising me that the meeting was actually for monday at 9:50 am. (so if you're counting, that's three messages telling me it's for monday, and the secretary damn well knows it.) which is short-ish notice, but not completely out of line, and as it happens, monday morning is fine for me.
i responded to the tutor's e-mail (choosing 'reply all') and did not include the signature file. have now also sent a note to all the randoms listed above to double check that they know the meeting is Monday instead of four hours ago.
this particular secretary is the most frustrating, incompetent, hostile person i've ever had to deal with professionally, and the bursar will not (or, apparently cannot -- and why not? for acts of gross incompetence that have been known to cost students time and money and possibly even cause trouble with visas and entry clearances?!) fire her. grargh.
Hello
An appointment has been made for you to see [tutor] regarding Graduate Consultation, which the University requires colleges to carry out each year.
I am sorry for the short notice but times are below. Please let me know ASAP if you can make the appointment
[random] 9.00 am
[random] 9.10 am
[random] 9.20 am
[random] 9.30 am
[random] 9.40 am
Fox 9.50 am
[random] 10.00 am
[tutor]'s Office is at [location]
Once again sorry about the short notice but I would be grateful if you can let me know
Regards
[signed]
Admissions & Academic Secretary
i read it three times, to make sure i wasn't missing anything, and then sent the following reply, cc'd to the tutor himself and the bursar, who is the admissions secretary's immediate supervisor:
Was that meant to be 9:50 am *today*? Then, no, I was not able to make the appointment as I have only just received the notice of it now, at 10:45. When rescheduling, please be aware that I have a class at 11am on Tuesday and a meeting with a professor at 9:30 am on Thursday; and please try to give more than an hour and a half of notice. Thanks.
[signed]
President, Student Representative Committee
(i add the signature for e-mails sent both within and outside college in my official capacity as student president, of course, but also for e-mails sent to college staff when i'd like them not to forget that i'm not shy about expecting students to be treated with a scintilla of respect, you know what i'm saying?)
and when i came back from meeting my supervisor, i had a message from the secretary (to me, no cc's) saying I did think I'd apologised for not giving you a lot of notice (my internal monologue: dude, 'short notice' is 'by the way you have this meeting tomorrow', not 'good morning, come to a meeting right now'!), as well as one from the tutor (cc'd to the secretary and the bursar and apologising for the mix-up) and two from the secretary (to me, no cc's, no apologies for the mix-up) advising me that the meeting was actually for monday at 9:50 am. (so if you're counting, that's three messages telling me it's for monday, and the secretary damn well knows it.) which is short-ish notice, but not completely out of line, and as it happens, monday morning is fine for me.
i responded to the tutor's e-mail (choosing 'reply all') and did not include the signature file. have now also sent a note to all the randoms listed above to double check that they know the meeting is Monday instead of four hours ago.
this particular secretary is the most frustrating, incompetent, hostile person i've ever had to deal with professionally, and the bursar will not (or, apparently cannot -- and why not? for acts of gross incompetence that have been known to cost students time and money and possibly even cause trouble with visas and entry clearances?!) fire her. grargh.
