There are certain things that one must do in order to work at a university in the USA. Well, at the University of Minnesota anyway. First one must check in with the International Student and Scholar Services (ISSS). Then one must ask HR in the relevant department for an email account and internet access. Then one must go to the Social Security Administration Office and wait for 2.5 hours to get a Social Security Number. Next one must apply for a University ID card. Next one must visit the payroll office for an I-9 appointment. Finally one must enrol in the university's health and dental insurance. Now this would all the fine if all of these things were in one place. But they're not. The UMN campus is huge; it sprawls across the twin cities like a rapidly expanding spider. Fortunately it's connected by a free bus but there were some places I needed to go that weren't even close to the bus route.
This is why I think UMN could benefit from a Central Bureaucracy. It would be like a massive HR department that handles all your bureaucratic needs. Think Centrelink on steroids. It would have all the forms you could ever need. It would house files on everyone in the University. It might have to replace the TCF Bank Stadium to accommodate all the forms, files, cards, stationery and bureaucrats. But it would be worth it. All of the relevant forms and personnel would be in one convenient location.
While this would be awesome in a lot of ways, the drawbacks are pretty obvious.
No comments:
Post a Comment