Just a Week Ago . . .

A week ago, I'd have been getting ready to go to work--yes, on a Saturday.  We are now required to give up part of a Saturday each month, one of us per Saturday, to have management presence on campus.  I requested the Saturday before the accreditation visit because I knew there might be work to do.  Knowing that I was working on Saturday relieved a bit of pressure during the week.

When I arrived on campus, my boss was already there, much to my surprise.  He, too, was anxious, so he came to campus, just to go over a few things and make sure he was ready.  We looked at the box of documents one more time.

Then he went home, and I kept preparing.  I bought some fruit juices and mixed fruit from the grocery store so that we'd have it on hand for breakfast for the accreditation team.  I added some documents to binders.  Our registrar read an e-mail which prompted her to stop by after her workout at the gym, and we created some documents so that we didn't have to think about getting that done Monday morning before the team arrived. 

We left, and I spent the rest of the week-end trying not to fret. 

In retrospect, I was fretting about some items that wouldn't give us trouble in the end.  My boss had heard that the accreditor that would be looking at our Business program had also been at the Miami campus, and he was spooked by their report of interactions.  His anxiety fueled mine, but we needn't have worried.  Our lead faculty member for Business and the accreditor had a great time talking business and education and the future of the field.

My colleagues across the campus had similar experiences.  We had no trouble talking to the accreditors.  We had good conversations, in fact.  Over and over again, we heard about our well-run campus, about the satisfaction of our students.

Let me remember that nugget in the days to come.  Let me remember that the visit went well.  Let me remember the positive feedback.