The Big Question (Cleveland trip)

“It sounds like you’re getting the ax.” This is what Matt said to me, laughing, when I updated him in Cleveland about my work situation. I had called my department chair in April to say that we hadn’t accomplished what we wanted and that I was taking another year for the trip. She was wonderfully supportive and later emailed that the Dean wanted to meet with me while I was in Cleveland. Once we arrived, she said she was also asked to attend the Dean’s meeting. A day later she said she wanted to talk to me in advance and, if possible, in a face-to-face meeting. This was the part where Matt started laughing and I started getting nervous. Frankly, I had been ready to be told to pack up my office since April when we made the decision to extend the trip. The final outcome is that my Chair, my department and the Dean have all been wonderfully supportive and approved a second year leave of absence. It still needs to go up the chain of command to the Provost but no one seems too worried about it [Below is a photo of my building, the business school, at Case Western Reserve University]. Thus, we will extend the trip and continue on …

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