Ehhh, yeah, it's an open-ended task, isn't it? And if you take a hiatus you have to figure out what all (if anything) got released whilst you were away...
I take it back.
It's not tempting at all.

That sounds like a headache.

Sounds like alot of work. XD

New school semester, new headaches. We have rotations coming up and I'm trying to get my shit together for the alternative rotation because I've worked in a hospital for 4 years so I'd like to be free from this madness for just one semester and the dude who runs the application process is a pain in the ass when you ask him questions.

i hope things settle down for you.

Thanks! I more or less just want answers so I know what to do. I've been barking up this tree since October and we just had a meeting that was not helpful at all.

hum maybe you can make a list of questions and just ask them when you have time? so you can get everything you want to know out of the way.

I did that after the meeting and they refused to give me straight answers. My advisor knows nothing about it either. I found an upperclassmen though who helped a bit.

Umm, yeah, Department Secretaries were my go-to for actual answers on administrative questions, but it's been decades since Uni for me and I don't think that position even exists anymore. Or if it does, it's not called that!

Department secretaries still exist. Unfortunately since this is a small department, they don't have one. You would think since half of the people in the department are also professors that they would be easy to get a hold of but nope.