It’s been almost a full month since my previous post. I haven’t lost my interests or my voice. The problem is that I am teaching three courses this semester. Preparation time (because I always update my content), classes, grading, and student contact take up most of my work week.

By the way, the courses are an undergraduate-level overview of public management, a capstone seminar on strategic management, and a graduate seminar on narrative and politics. The courses require considerable student work in terms of presentations and, in public management, participation in a budgeting simulation. I’ve found that designing thought-provoking assignments and exercises, coaching students, and evaluating performance are just as time-consuming as the alternative of lecturing. And I’m a firm believer in the Confucian maxim, “I hear and I forget, I see and I remember, I do and I understand.” Teaching is as time-consuming when you are a “guide on the side” model as when you are a “sage on the stage.”

I have ideas for posts, but I haven’t had time for the research and writing. I suppose I could resort to Twitter to broadcast what is top of mind. Perhaps in future I will.

Finally, I’m in the process of making an important personal decision that is requiring considerable analysis, consultation, and contemplation. And this one has a deadline. Readers might guess what I’m referring to.

The semester ends at the end of March, and I hope to resume posting more frequently after that.