Am I too sensitive if I’m bothered by an email that tells administrators to “hand this information down the ranks”?
I don’t really see myself as being beneath anybody on this campus. Or anywhere else. A Dean, a Chancellor and the President of the US are not “above” me. They just have a different job, and there is no guarantee that they are doing it better than I do mine.
I’d be bothered for exactly the reasons you state. First, what makes administrators think they’re better than everybody else? Second, there are often whole email lists which will send notifications to all students and/or all faculty (if there aren’t, making them isn’t an issue–especially for an administrator). Why not just use one of those, rather than rely on other people to do it?
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I’ve noticed that a lot of people seem to have difficulty understanding that there can be different categories without them necessarily forming a hierarchy.
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Am I too sensitive if I’m bothered by an email that tells administrators to “hand this information down the ranks”?
Yes. Next question.
🙂 😛
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Don’t worry, I have no shortage of those. 🙂
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I don’t take this personally because I consider it a figure of speech and divorce it from the hierarchical implications. But I really resent “chain of command” as an expression.
Yes, some things have to go through the chair, to the dean, etc.; but I consider it my right to ask any administrator any question without asking permission to ask.
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Yes, I hate that one, too. It makes me sound like I’m a trained puppy on a leash. Bleh.
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Rankism is a social disorder.
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A conservative literary critic and college professor
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