Facing a drought?(Senior Women Academic Administrators of Canada)

Using gardening as an overall conference theme, sessions at the Senior Women Academic Administrators of Canada (SWAAC) conference held in British Columbia in May applied various gardening references as provocative titles to the sessions.

Dr. Heather Lewis, dean, arts and sciences at Camosun College in British Columbia, led a facilitated roundtable discussion of burnout, called facing a drought.

Women administrators are no strangers to burnout. Lewis defined burnout as "a complex process which affects our physical, intellectual and social functioning." It starts with excess stress and tension and then can rapidly deteriorate to almost total depletion.

One of the first signs of burnout is when the barometer of our work is measured in complaints: "There's too much to do; I'm so tired." Soon the complaining becomes a habit, often passing for communication and/or humor. Other indicators are instances of flying off the handle, a lack of interest in new projects, social withdrawal, physical symptoms, even new patterns of conflict with students and/or co-workers.

How can administrators recognize when people are running dry? "They'll often tell you they're not sleeping well," said Lewis. "There are changes in body weight or skin blotches." And unhappy people are difficult to get along with, harming the whole garden.

The causes are many. Overwork, lack of sleep, lack of support or autonomy can all contribute to burnout. Often burned out people aren't booking enough time for themselves; ...