Stage One of the Approval Process

Yesterday, I received an initial response from the Faculty Development Committee on my sabbatical proposal . They seemed excited enough but it is often difficult for me to judge. These days, educational institutions have a tendency to try to preserve people's "self-esteem", so everything you do as a student or faculty member is "great". (I'm cynical enough not to buy into it.) The committee did make some reading recommendations, however, mostly about fleshing out some of the pedagogical and research issues in the proposal. So I'm off to the library this morning to borrow a stack of books. At 9 a.m. I have an appointment with one of the committee members who will clarify any ambiguous points in their recommendations.