Spheres of Influence

Everyone has a sphere of influence. You know, that little zone of the world where you can exert control over what's happening. I have mine, you have yours. In my case, my sphere of influence encompasses the building that I run. To an extent.

There's a student who has had an issue with his room for a few months now. The way that it works is that he notifies me, or whoever's at the front desk, about the the problem. We have him fill out the proper paperwork and we pass it along to the maintenance department. I've passed on the paperwork. No response. My lead staff person has passed along paperwork for him. No response. Mind you, the way our departments are set up, I have no direct supervision over the people who actually make repairs and fix various problems. That's why all I can do is pass along paperwork (see: "sphere of influence"). My supervisor calls me this morning to find out why a student has had the same problem for months. I tell him:

1. Student has reported the problem several times.
2. The paperwork has been filled out several times.
3. There has been no response. Several times.

All he's asking me is "so what'd you do about it?" "How'd you follow up?" Umm, by continuing to fill out the paperwork and asking about a response.

(Here I have to interject. Perhaps in an ordinary job there would be more I could do. But here's how it works being a Community Director at an HBCU. If someone doesn't report directly to you there's always an air of "You can't tell me what to do." And in this case, I can't. Although we both support the functions of the residence hall, I am not their boss. I can ONLY request. And wait. And ask again. And wait. And threaten to go to their supervisor, which only serves to increase the tension. Trust me, I know from experience.)

Back to the post. Supervisor cuts me off. Hangs up the phone. I'm bothered by his curt attitude. He tries to place blame on me that isn't mine to take.

You know, I suppose this story only works if I discuss what the problem is. Keys. The resident lost his keys 4 months ago, and has received no replacement. Other rooms have received keys, but the person who cuts most of the keys seems to never cut one for this door. I can't make him cut a key. Actually the problem is the system itself. It used to be that once a week someone would come by and collect our forms. When he came back he would have keys, and he would pick up more forms. Now no one comes. We have to fax them over because if we waited for someone, the forms would just pile up. Maybe all the faxes aren't being read. Maybe all of them aren't going through. Either way, there's a disconnect in another department, and I'm tired of blame being laid at my feet. I know my sphere of influence. Cutting keys isn't in it.

Legal Note: Opinions in this post are my own and not representative of the university I work for or the people I work under. All suppositions, presumptions, theories, hypotheses, etc. are my own. This blog is for entertainment purposes only, blah blah blah. There are purposely no names included in this post, and I have revealed nothing that violates either general expectations of privacy or the University confidentiality agreement, which, actually... I never signed anyway. All of that is to say...don't be trying to sue me.