The Story of An Office: Unexpected Issues at USU
It has been said everybody has a story. Well, at USU, every office has a story too.
John Engler, lecturer in the English department, works at a cubicle in a shared office on the fourth floor of the Ray B. West building. His office consists of a wooden computer desk with a computer, some ceramic pots, an office lamp, some files and papers, and a lightsaber. Engler said the lightsaber was signed and given to Engler, or “Master John” as he is known, by his USU 1010 Honors Connections class.
“It is amazing for them to think to give me this amazing gift,” he said. “No class has ever done anything this cool. My office mates love it.”
But even with the lightsaber, a distinguishing feature of Engler’s office is its size. Offices are based on seniority, Engler said.
“I am a lecturer and not a professor, so I don’t do research,” he said. “All I do is teach, so I don’t need a really big office.”
According to Engler, a quarter to a third of the faculty in the department are lecturers. This is because all USU students are required to take English 1010 and 2010, he said. Most of the professors focus on research and major-specific classes, so Engler said the lecturers have to fill in the gap. Engler said he hopes he can have a larger office someday.
“The department wants to give me an office, but there is a shortage of office space,” he said. “The problem is that I don’t have enough room for conferences with my students. I spend many hours discussing student writing, and that can be distracting to my office mates.”
Star Coulbrooke, assistant director of the Writing Center, said before she got her current position and office in 1999, she had a cubicle, too. Now, she has an office with a windows and more space than the cubicle. Her office is a way to express her personality and is covered with free-speech bumper stickers to poems from past students. Coulbrooke also decorates her office with the scarfs and sarongs that have become part of her wardrobe.
“My office is a shrine to the kind of academia I appreciate,” she said. “This room is dedicated to my former students and mentors.”
One mentor displayed in her office is Ken Brewer.
“Ken made it possible for me to teach poetry writing,” Coulbrooke said.
There are also several pieces of insect art in the office, which have come from her partner, she said, and are the overflow from what he has collected.
Her office is covered with stickers, posters and memorabilia advocating free speech and opposing the banning of books.
“It is crazy how people can say what other people can read,” Coulbrooke said. “It is funny how books get banned and why. Language is part of who we are and what makes us unique.”
michael.buhler@aggiemail.usu.edu