To put it in familiar terms &- the Instructional Related Activities fee increase: $160. Total undergraduate registration fees: $2,451. The academic training and skills we will lose this year: Priceless.

This upcoming semester, students will have substantially fewer instructional hours. Yes, the idea of shorter weeks, longer vacations and much more nap time may appear idyllic, but in reality, a reduced workload threatens not only the quality of our education but the potency of our brain power.

As probably guessed, this all comes from the CSU Board of Trustee’s decision to implement mandatory faculty furlough days as a means of saving money. This upcoming year, all professors and teaching staff are required to take off a total of nine days, amounting to a 9.23 percent salary loss.

The sentiment of students so far has been in favor of the furlough, ranging along the lines of “If we have to pay so do the teachers.” But when a teacher takes a furlough day &- nine times &- students will lose nine days of either instructional time or time where the professor may have been available to meet outside of class. This hurts our quality of education.
Furloughs aren’t just bad for teachers; they’re bad for everyone.

This summer, CSU faculty and staff individually worked to create a calendar of the furlough days they intend to take off. Although furlough days are compulsory, the specific days they have to be taken on are not.

So while some professors are selfless enough to only take off the days they don’t lecture &- say a Monday and Wednesday lecturer uses Tuesdays and Thursdays to go on furlough &-other professors may not be so generous.

There may be some professors who will take a majority of their furlough on scheduled class days, leaving students with an imbalanced academic loss in a singule course.
Journalism and media studies professor, Dr. Tim Wulfemeyer has chosen to take four instructional days and five non-instructional days off as a way meeting students in the middle, while still making a statement to CSU officials.

“I think it would be too damaging to the instruction/learning aspect of my courses to take nine instructional days off during the semester,” Wulfemeyer said. “On the other hand, by not taking any instructional days off, it tends to show taxpayers and legislators that professors are willing to do the same work for 10 percent less salary. That doesn’t seem like a very strategic move to me.”

Wulfemeyer’s decision is both strategic and understandable, yet students are still left with four fewer lectures &- lectures we have paid for.

Every teacher is supposed to put the instructional days they chose to take off in their syllabus so that students can plan ahead.

But be warned, we are going to have to plan way, way ahead.

For students who have classes in a number of departments, their schedules are going to be broken, scattered and aggravatingly disorganized.

Student schedules will be unorganized. Many students try to have classes on the same day, but now with random furlough days interjected into our schedule, our routines will be thrown off. For students who take public transportation, furlough days pose not only a schedule grievance, but a considerable waste of time.

“It seems as if a student who has three classes on a Monday, might find that several times during the semester, he/she will have one, two or all three classes canceled due to furloughs,” Wulfemeyer said. “It is likely to be a confusing time for all of us.”

Confusing describes a portion of this predicament, while enraging expresses the rest.
Considering our fees went up by 30 percent, it’s quite alarming to think we’re actually paying more money for less education. The loss of classes could range anywhere from 10 to 30 percent, not to mention the immeasurable waste of knowledge.

Overall, putting university faculty on furlough is not a wise decision on the part of CSU officials. If limited to state employees only, CSU could still reap the savings benefits without causing an educational disruption. Maybe a few offices would be closed, and a few people will be forced to wait in slightly longer lines, but the damage done would only be minimal in the long run.

“I think most faculty members will try their best to minimize the impacts of the furlough system on students,” an empathetic Wulfemeyer said, “but I don’t see how the furlough system will not do some damage to the instructional programs at SDSU. Even if faculty members do not take instructional days off, the damage done to morale, collegiality, teamwork, etc. will still be there.”

If your professors have chosen to only take little to no instructional days off, be sure to thank them. This year the quality of our education hinges directly on the incorruptible selflessness of our honorable professors. If the state is not going to value their selflessness, we students better make sure to express our gratitude.
8212;Ashlie Rodriguez is a political science and journalism senior.

8212;This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Daily Aztec. Send e-mail to opinion@thedailyaztec.com. Anonymous letters will not be printed 8212; include your full name, major and year in school.