You may recall that on New Year's Day I posted about becoming Interim Vice President of Instruction at my college. I haven't posted much since then, partially as a result of being way too busy in my new role. Well, I don't know what it portends for the future of this blog, but today it is official news: I am no longer interim and will become the next VPI, continuing in this job for the foreseeable future.
Actually, my job has changed: in this recruitment the name of the position was changed to Vice President of Academic Affairs and Student Learning. Quite a mouthful. And the punchy abbreviation VPI (vee-pee-eye) is now lost, for the (bad) scrabble rack VPAASL.
It is the abbreviation that gives one pause. It seems the convention is growing to pronounce it "vee-pee-ASSuhl", and you can imagine what road that construction takes us down. So, in order to start off right, I'd like to propose changing the emphasis to a different syllable, and using "vuh-PAHssel", to rhyme with "the hassle".
If the pronunciation of the short version of my title were to be the biggest challenge I face in this job, I would count myself supernaturally lucky. Our institution is looking at some significant challenges ahead, as the economy changes, the workforce evolves, the local demographics shift, and state and federal politics make their waves. We have some work to do internally as well, establishing priorities, mending fences among work groups, and increasing efficiency. I had my eyes open going into this, and I'm ready to roll up my sleeves and do the work.
Wish me luck.
1 comment:
Congrats!
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