Prof Notes
Prof Notes: Wry Observations on Academic Life
Poppy Anna Press (March 2022)
Paperback
184 pages
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Prof Notes: Wry Observations on Academic Life
by Melissa S. Anderson
Reading Prof Notes is like taking an insider’s tour of the academic life. Professor Anderson is great company as she points out what is peculiar, absurd, poignant and delightful about higher education.
These wry, five-line observations will resonate with faculty members, administrators and students. Anyone curious about university/college life will appreciate the author’s irreverent take on what really happens behind the scenes.
Subpoena Sensor
Early on, I had a subpoena sensor installed in my brain
that keeps me from including details in emails
that I wouldn’t want to see in the newspaper.
Some of my colleagues must be waiting
for the device to go on sale.
Administrative Issues
The dean loads administrative issues into a truck,
secures the latch, and bangs on the side
to signal the driver to go. The tires spin in the mud,
the truck lurches back and forth, the rear gate gives way,
and the issues tumble back into a pile.
The Quants
The speaker has based his talk on statistics
that he doesn’t understand.
The quants in the room shift in their seats,
eyes flashing, licking their chops.
When the speaker finishes, they will pounce.
Dispensers
At one end of the long hallway is a defibrillator
and at the other, a fire extinguisher.
In between, we need dispensers of perseverance, insight,
resilience, humor, clear-headedness, good-heartedness
and all the other emergency supplies for academic life.
At Dusk
There is a certain time at dusk
when the sky softening toward darkness
and the campus buildings lighting up
reach parity of illumination, like the moment
when you know that a former student will soon outshine you.
We academics are often too busy to delight in the everyday pleasures of our work and to laugh at our (many) foibles. Take the time to sit with Anderson’s Prof Notes. She will remind you of why you chose this life.
—Raymond De Vries, Professor and Associate Director of the Center for Bioethics and Social Sciences in Medicine, University of Michigan
You do not have to be familiar with the rhythm or the intricacies of academic life to appreciate Prof Notes. Each note is a vivid reminder of the insight and humor to be found in the most common of places, situations, and circumstances.
—Melissa A. Kirk, Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, Antioch University, New York
In Prof Notes, professors, graduate students, administrators and staff will recognize themselves, their colleagues, and the strange practices that we think of as normal academic behavior. For those who have spent time working in higher education, Prof Notes will be strikingly familiar, illuminating and hilarious.
—Rebecca Ropers, Vice Provost for Faculty and Academic Affairs, University of Minnesota
In these pages are pearls of wisdom and useful knowledge about all aspects of academic life, beautifully conveyed against the backdrop of the natural rhythms of the academic year. Prof Notes is a comforting, humorous and profoundly insightful encapsulation of the collective experience of our wonderful profession.
—Eric G. Campbell, Professor of Medicine, University of Colorado
I love Melissa Anderson’s tiny observations, which capture the arc of the academic year along with the wry details of faculty routines. Each rereading reminds me why I chose an academic life.
—Karen R. Seashore, Regents Professor and Beck Chair of Ideas in Education, University of Minnesota
I am astonished how Professor Anderson successfully distills the academic experience into an observation of just a few lines.
— Michael Kalichman, Professor of Pathology, University of California San Diego.
Prof Notes elicits chuckles, outright laughter, knowing nods, eye rolls, and solemn pauses. These wry and insightful observations resonate with the realities of my own experiences as a graduate student, faculty member, and administrator. Writing from a place of genuine affection for higher education, Anderson captures complexity in brief notes that remind me why I love what I do and affirm that I belong in the beautifully quirky land of academe.
— S. Lynn Shollen, Associate Professor of Leadership Studies, Christopher Newport University, Virginia
With wit, insight, and style, Professor Anderson captures the follies, paradoxes, and joys of academic life. This little volume is a treat for those who have chosen the academic life and for those who are curious about what goes on at a college or university.
— James C. Hearn, Professor of Higher Education, University of Georgia
Wisdom and insight surface everywhere in the observations found in Prof Notes. They resonate with the complexities of academia and bring to life the personalities and differences in thinking that abound within a university department. I only wish that I’d had this book when I accepted a university faculty position.
— Joe Alfano, Retired Assistant Professor, Metropolitan State University, Minnesota