More on service

At the end of last semester, I was elected chair of a particular committee.  (I had been vice-chair.)  The committee has a two-year term, so I was also up for election to the committee.  Because this put the committee in a tight spot, I asked the elections committee to let me know whether I had been re-elected, so that we could have our officers in place going into the summer.  They said yes.  Huzzah!

Well.  You already can tell where this is going: Tonight I discovered that, oops, I in fact was NOT re-elected to the committee in general, and so, obviously, I can’t be chair.  Talk about your mixed bag:

• It’s frustrating.  This is going to be an interesting year on this particular committee, with initiatives that are directly related to my skillset, and I won’t really get a say.
• It’s embarrassing.  It’s not like the committee leadership elections were secret, and so I’d been approached all summer by various administrators about plans for the fall.  (Worse, I may actually have to continue to meet with these people until the committee sits and can elect a proper chair.)
• On the third hand, hey look–free time!  And lots of it!