So why do I have to play my rented video tape at room temperature? Isn’t it always room temperature?
Ok boys and girls, todays lesson is in the phenomenon known as BUREAUCRACY
Thats right. Every University administration’s favourite pastime is getting students lost in a load of paperwork that nobody knows what to do with, other than send you to someone else who also wont know what to do with it.
So here is the story. I’ll start at the beginning, which you might know is rare for me. I was registering for some courses for this summer – 329 Biology (Experimental techniques) and 333 Biology (Developmental biology). I noticed far too late that there was a prerequisite for 329 that I didn’t have. NO problem I though, I’ll just get the instructor to sign a form, after I explain that it is inhumane to make civilized persons like myself to take physics. Actually, this was not the argument that I used, but that I planned to take it later, and that I couldn’t fit it into any previous semester. So after a week of trying to track down the instructor that the timetable said was teaching it this summer, it turns out that this was a “misprint”. Well, I finally did get hold of the instructor that teaches 329 this summer, but after a week of trying to do so. He signed the form very promptly, after only 4 more days of delay (not his fault, to be honest).
Now I was left with attempting to sign up for 333. NO problem right? Turns out that the two lab sections for 329 that did not conflict, were either full already or were cancelled outright by the department. Oh GOOOD! So now, before I could arrange registration for 333, I had to get a waiver form in order to enrol in 2 courses that have a time conflict. Piece of cake right? Well, the timetable said that there was a sessional teaching it in the summer (which means they haven’t hired anybody yet). I went to the biology department advisor who told me that a Dr. Anderson was teaching it this summer. So after another week I managed to track down Dr. Anderson (he didn’t answer my email and only had office hours on Tuesday morning (this is now a Thursday morning). So today ( a Tuesday) I finally talked to Dr. Anderson. I knew there was a problem when I asked him to sign my form for 333 and he gave me this look like I had just asked something inappropriate of him. Turns out he doesn’t teach 333 this summer, and never applied for the job. Back to the “advisor” who apologized and said that she had “heard” that Anderson was teaching 333, but wasn’t really sure. She could have looked it up and saved me a week. So she did look it up, and couldn’t give me an answer, and admitted it this time. She referred me to the head of the biology department. So today, I finally found the head of the department. She told me that somebody with the last name of Sorus taught the course. He couldn’t give me a lab or room number, and said that she might sign my conflict form. He suggested I asked the biology general office in order to find her room number. Biology general office had no clue, and referred me to Mrs. Fox who was in charge of such things, and hiring sessionals etc. I finally tracked her down at 5:00 PM. She told me that Sorus couldn’t sign my form because, while she had applied for the job, she hadn’t been hired yet. She referred me to someone whose office was empty – I mean no furniture, nothing! So back to her office, where she referred me someone called Medford, whose reputation precedes him, which was not a good thing.
So how many people is that? I have been bounced around from persons who don’t’ exist, to persons who lost their brains, to persons who give an answer even though they don’t know the correct one, to persons who don’t want to help me. Medford needed real convincing to sign my form, but he did in the end. Actually, I lied and said that I couldn’t take this course in the fall (I don’t’ even know if I could or not).
Now I am registered in 333 and 329. I need to sign up for another course still. Im sure that there is an adventure in that one too!