President's Message January 2022

Happy New Year!

Hopefully, your holidays were filled with food, family, friends, and festive-making, along with a good dose of rest and relaxation.  

Here is what you said in response to last month’s Pulse Survey about holiday plans: (n=18)

1)      How far do you plan to travel during the holiday season?

  • Staying in my home area up to 50 miles away - 60%
  • 50 to 500 miles away - 30%
  • Over 500 miles away - 10%

2)      What is your school’s official schedule of operations between 12/25 and 1/1?

  • Office is open - 11%
  • Office is closed - expectation to use “leave” time - 6%
  • Office is closed - absence is considered paid time off - 83%

3)      What are your plans for work during the peak of the holiday season?

  • Working as usual except for observed holidays - 5%
  • Enjoying office closure plus some additional time off - 67%
  • Taking a much-needed vacation - 28%

What are your hopes for this new year?  Many of us finished 2021 feeling exhausted.  We’ve been feeling compelled to return to a pre-pandemic pace of productivity, even though the current work environment is far from the pre-pandemic “normal.”

A saving grace is that we’re in this new environment together, and we can look to one another, especially as peers within ACSN, for support, creative ideas, partnership, and affirmation.  

Now that the days are steadily getting longer, let’s look toward brighter times, particular to the sunny and warm atmosphere of San Diego in July!  Our return to an in-person conference will be here before we know it, and I hope to see you there!  That’s truly something we can all work towards!

James Chang

University of Oregon