UW Gazette, September 11, 1996
     
     Most UW professors apparently couldn't find time last
week to talk about "Balancing Teaching, Research, and
Personal Lives".
     Only about 10 people attended a panel discussion on the
topic, conducted as part of Faculty Development Days. And
that included two reporters and a few PhD students anxious
about their futures.
     With the assistance of moderator Dr. Gary Waller,
associate provost (academic affairs), panel members Dr.
Teresa Boake of architecture, and Dr. Vassili Karanassios of
chemistry shared their observations about time management.
     Karanassios summarized his approach in three words,
"Focus, focus, focus."
     He finds setting aside one semester to work intensively
on lecture notes a good strategy, making future revisions
relatively simple. With students, he is "fair, tough, and
consistent", and finds conference presentations a good
investment of time and energy.
     "You have to wave your flag. Just don't publish
garbage," he added.
     When in doubt, Karanassios concluded, "Just say no."
     While he attempts to divide his time in chunks of 40
per cent research, 40 per cent teaching, and 20 per cent
administration, Boak's life is carved into smaller sections.
     In addition to her academic roles, she commutes to UW
from Toronto, where she juggles her career with the family
responsibilities involved in being a wife and a mother of
two daughters.
     She admitted the task has been "extremely difficult",
especially when she was working towards tenure. The
challenge needs "dogged perseverance and good time
management", and Boake believes a more supportive
environment at work would help.
     "There need to be some changes at this university to
recognize that people have different family situations," she
said, noting that certain policies and practices "make it
very difficult to do a balancing act."
     Despite her best organizational efforts, Boake admits,
"I will never be as good a researcher as someone who can put
all his energy into one area."
     Ultimately, self-acceptance seems the best strategy for
sanity. "I'm doing the best I can on all fronts," she said.
     Both panelists advised their audience to be candid with
students about the research and administration
responsibilities faced by teachers, and recommended
maintaining good communication with students, including
ongoing solicitation of classroom evaluation.