Frustrated by my supervisor...

[8 Bit WWBG]

Seriously?

[busymom]

Does your supervisor frequently do really lame stuff like this? Maybe it's time to dust off the ol' resume.... (Or look for other opportunities within the college.)


Hang in there. I've worked for crazy people too...

[8 Bit WWBG]

Totally. Skirts right! ;D

I exploited a similar loophole once. I knew a professor wouldn't check her mailbox right at the deadline of an assignment, so I turned it in late but still got credit.

Dude Where's my Car is an excellent movie by the way. I'm spoiled though, I read the book.

[8 Bit WWBG]

wrongside, you should counter by buying Harold & Kumar go to White Castle. In my opinion, it is the superior stoner movie.

[happyhoix]

"Instead, I'm told, she spent the day complaining about being bored. She decided to go out and buy the movie "Dude, where's my car". She and the student employees working that day watched the movie together. When it was over, she threw the exams on the table with a sticky note that had my name on it."

Who is telling you all this? Not the supervisor because she's on vacation? Is it just one person or did everyone in your department rush to tell you this when you came to work today?

The reason I'm asking is there is a certain type of co-worker called a 'pot stirrer' who loves to cause problems. One of their very favorite tactics is to only tell part of a story, leaving out some very important details.

Are you upset that she left the exams for you to grade because you have a very heavy workload and won't have time to grade them yourself? Or just angry that your boss avoided doing a crappy job and handed it off to you instead? Because I have to tell you, bosses, as a rule, will ALWAYS pass the crap work on to their minions if at all possible.

[8 Bit WWBG]

Can you prove she was supposed to work on them on Friday, and then just watched D,WMC?

[8 Bit WWBG]

...:::"She left her movie in the dvd player (I have no idea why we have a tv and dvd player in our office). I've never seen it. I might borrow it.":::...

Its actually a lot deeper than you'd think. The way it all ties together is pretty cool.

What does yours say? "Dude!" What does mine say "Sweet" What does yours say.... DUDE!!!!!

[Works4me]

Is this the same supervisor who received the text message about her own shortcomings and then took a few days off and then wathced movies?

[skubikky]

Jun 19, 2012 13:11:59 GMT -5 Muscleup said:

Not your problem.

that

[Works4me]

Har spot to be in but definitely a concern if the supervisor is putting the dept at risk. Did you apply to the other full-time position(s)?

[kindthatjingles]

do you have an anonymous ethics line to report it too?

[Wisconsin Beth]

Dear boss,

As you know, my work schedule is 8-4, T-F. I arrived on Tuesday to find the exams for X on the front table. I don't know how long they were there or who may have seen them/it. as you know, our student employees frequently work at that space.

Do we have a procedure documented for instances like this? If so, please direct me to it so I may follow it.

Thanks,
wrong

[Deleted]

I'm glad you applied for those other positions.

I work at a college and leaving exams accessible is a HUGE deal! We keep our exams in a locked safe / cabinet. One of the recent hires kept forgetting to lock it. He ended up quitting after 10 days, but they were planning on firing him anyway, for that and other reasons.

(No harm was done because another employee double-checked the cabinet every time the new hire needed to access it.)

ETA: I like Beth's letter.

[Works4me]

Wrong - glad to hear that you applied elsewhere. As nice as the flexibility is, it sounds like the dept you are currently with may have limited shelf life.

[8 Bit WWBG]

I second that Beth's letter is excellent, and might add to the first paragraph "Upon finding them left out, I immediately secured them".

[Wisconsin Beth]

Jun 19, 2012 15:16:34 GMT -5 @wrongsideof30 said:

Jun 19, 2012 14:58:42 GMT -5 8 Bit WWBG said:

I second that Beth's letter is excellent, and might add to the first paragraph "Upon finding them left out, I immediately secured them".

Yes! Great addition.

Yes, that is a good touch. Reinforces your reliability and conscientiousness (Thank God for spell check...)

[Deleted]

I agree (with Gowron's addition).

I'd also be VERY tempted to copy my email to HER supervisor, but I do know that could be counterproductive ...

[shanendoah]

So to put my response in context, I don't work at a university. I work in healthcare and I work with personnel records, so violating confidentiality in my line of work means losing a job. However, I believe all things that are supposed to be confidential should be kept so and treated in the same fashion.
Since your boss is on vacation all this week, she will be out of the office for any damage that may be done. I would think that this is a time sensitive issue and that your department needs to be ahead of the curve not behind it. Given that, I would email your boss's boss (or the Dean of whatever department she teaches in- if these were Chemistry tests, you contact the head of the Chemistry department, etc), ccing your boss as a courtesy.
My email would look like this:

Dear Dean:
My name is X and I do work supporting Dr. Y. Dr. Y is out of the office on vacation this week, and there is a situation that I think you need to be aware of in her absence.
My regular work days are Tues-Thurs. When I entered the office this morning, a stack of student exams were sitting on my desk, with nothing other than a sticky note with instructions for me on them. To the best of my knowledge, Dr. Y has not been in the office since Friday, before leaving on her vacation. That means these exams have been sitting on my desk since then, including yesterday (Monday) when student workers had unsupervised access to this area.
While I have no reason to believe that anything untoward has happened, I can not know for sure, and thought it best to let you know, so that the department can be made aware that it is possible confidential information has been leaked.

Sincerely,
X


Obviously begin it differently if the head of the department knows you.

Maybe others don't see it as that big of a deal, but in my line of work, leaving confidential information unprotected is more than a no-no. It is a firing offense.

[8 Bit WWBG]

Alternatively, send your supervisor a text clearly intended for your co-worker that says you "hate the boss so much right now".

[Phoenix84]

"Are you upset that she left the exams for you to grade because you have a very heavy workload and won't have time to grade them yourself? Or just angry that your boss avoided doing a crappy job and handed it off to you instead? Because I have to tell you, bosses, as a rule, will ALWAYS pass the crap work on to their minions if at all possible."

I agree. I can understand being a bit upset at your boss, but it sounds like she gave you a task so you better just do it. Even if it's "her job" bosses pass on work they don't want to do to peons like you. That's just the way the world works.

[Deleted]

My guess is that Wrong wasn't supposed to be grading the exams, but working on them, maybe putting them in better form or getting them to "fit" into some pre-determined format?

I would guess that the professors would be grading their own exams! But maybe not?!

In any case, I agree with Shanendoah that you need to be pro-active and inform whoever needs to know above / besides your supervisor.

Frankly, she sounds pretty laughable, and it sounds like she will be out of there sooner rather than later. IMO it's much more advisable to cover your buttski than hers.

[Deleted]

That's what I thought, Wrong. It's exactly the same situation I saw one of our long-standing Admin dealing with repeatedly while training that new hire just before he quit. He could open the safe but somehow couldn't manage to lock it again. This happened THREE times in one week.

As I said, he quit, but he was about to be fired.

This sort of thing is a HUGE deal, it totally undermines the credibility of the university.

FWIW, the highly-respected, long-standing admin at my school made NO bones about telling her superior what was going on with her new colleague. (In her case it was a new colleague, not her superior, I'm sure that makes it easier. But still.) She took her superior over to the unlocked safe THREE times that week.

[Deleted]

Wrong I really think you need to "do the right thing".

If you don't inform the people concerned, and all the students get fabulous grades on that exam, and they ask why ... it's much better for you to be honest from the beginning. Especially since it was not YOUR fault.

YOU are not the person who left them out with a sticky note for YOUR boss, right?!

Is there anybody you trust at work that you can discuss this with to find the best person to talk / write to? This said I agree with Shanendoah, ultimately, the dep't whose exam it is needs to be informed. Students being students, the exam probably WAS compromised. Even if each student individually would have been honest, peer pressure at that age is such that if there were several of them, they would have at least looked at the exam, and recounted what they remember (my opinion only, of course).

And I'd do it sooner, rather than later, because those final exams take a LOT of time to write up, check, proofread, consider alternative answers, etc.

[Deleted]

Other thought: if your dep't is support staff who deals with exams, WHY is your supervisor taking the week immediately before exams off?!

That's something that would never happen where I work (for a vacation, I mean. Obviously if there was an emergency that would be different).

[midjd]

I think Shanen and Debt are right on. You definitely need to bring this to the department's attention - if nothing else, it'll show that you're an honest, conscientious employee (and if your supervisor is fired and the department axed, I'd bet money they'd find a spot for you somewhere else).

[swamp]

Jun 19, 2012 20:21:45 GMT -5 @wrongsideof30 said:

My supervisor just replied to the email I sent her earlier. This was her response:

"There is no proof anyone cheated. Don't worry about it."

LOL!!! Do you think she'll let me borrow her crystal ball? I really want to know what happens when I'm not there.

[midjd]

Serious question - how the hell is your supervisor still employed?

[Works4me]

Cannot believe the arrogance of some people. Definitely share that e-mail with the department head you spoke with today.

ETA - glad you are looking out for yourself on this as now there is no way she could blame it on you and imho she sure would.

[Jaguar]

Jun 19, 2012 20:21:45 GMT -5 @wrongsideof30 said:

My supervisor just replied to the email I sent her earlier. This was her response:

"There is no proof anyone cheated. Don't worry about it."

WTE is wrong with this nutbar. Wrongside look after yourself around her.

[Jaguar]

Jun 19, 2012 22:00:47 GMT -5 Works4me said:

Cannot believe the arrogance of some people. Definitely share that e-mail with the department head you spoke with today.

ETA - glad you are looking out for yourself on this as now there is no way she could blame it on you and imho she sure would.

SO FREAKING