Number Crunching

Next week I will have my annual performance review. Although the department I work for is pretty laid back, I still get kind of anxious about it. In preparation for this meeting, I need to list out my accomplishments, with regard to our department's goals and objectives for the year.

Before I moved into higher ed., I held onto this uninformed fantasy about what it would be like to work in "the ivory tower." Surely, it wouldn't be anything like the corporate sector, where the almighty $$ seemed to drive everything, right? Well, it is somewhat less obvious as when I worked in corporate, but at the end of the day, it really all does boil down to how much revenue you are generating (even very indirectly, as in my job) for the University.

Our daily hours (minutes, even...for any task that takes more than 15) are reported and tracked in a system that somewhere down the line allows some number crunching administrator to use Financial Reporting Sofware to generate reports on our productivity, and value to the University. So, in noting my accomplishments for my review...it does make me think about how I should summarize them. Ack! You can see why I'm feeling anxious.