Tuesday, June 06, 2006

student tenure

When I worked at the IU libraries, there was a reference assistant at the main reference desk who had been working there, part-time, in that position for 10 years.  The reference department always joked that he's the only student worker who had been there long enough to get tenure. 

While that's funny in a sense, it's also really sad.  I can't imagine working in a part-time position for that long.  For one, I can't imagine that it would even come close to paying the bills.  Also, wouldn't you get frustrated knowing that there's pretty much no chance of promotion or raises? 

Maybe it's a personality thing.  Maybe some people are really fine staying put or at least complacent enough to stay.  I guess I just don't understand that type of thinking.

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