The Lectern: Summertime in academia

Last Thursday was Harvard graduation, and Monday summertime in academia officially got inaugurated. What does that mean? It means...

• …three months with virtually no meetings.


• …(usually) jeans, sneakers, and a polo shirt or t-shirt in the office.


• …(for me) often taking the 8:50 am commuter train into work instead of the 7:48 train (which in turn means a leisurely breakfast with a big mug of freshly brewed leaf tea and at least a start on reading the New York Times in the morning instead of after dinner).


• …"getting work done."

For most academics, "getting work done" means research and writing. I am working on a paper on what behaviors by agency heads are associated with success at executing ambitious organizational strategies, and on checking on the progress of a survey currently "in the field" in England on interorganizational collaboration in English/Welsh local government to reduce crime. I also need to edit some papers that will appear in the year's last issue (not to be published until December) of the academic journal I edit, the International Public Management Journal. And finally, I will work on some fairly major revisions in the introductory required public management course I teach for our master's student. (As a sign of the times, the course will now be called "management and leadership.")

Summertime is a good reason to be an academic.

BTW, don't worry FCW and readers, my columns and blogs will continue. (Tomorrow I'm headed to my godson's college graduation at the University of Chicago, and then to Sweden for a week.)