Furloughs - “Moving Forward” - let’s talk about it…..

.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) said, on 08/20/2009 at 08:14 PM:∞

I plan on reducing my workload by as close to 10% as I can.  I will cut content, reduce assignments and drop off committee’s.

.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) said, on 08/21/2009 at 10:34 AM:∞

I too am reducing workload as close to ten percent as I can.  Since the only meaningful workload reduction at HSU is reduction of assigned time workload, that means taking furlough days mostly from instructional time, some from collateral duties.  If furloughs are not taken from the assigned time base, they simply rearrange our workload rather than reduce it.

xoxo
Mike C.

.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) said, on 08/21/2009 at 11:33 AM:∞

So far, the furlough has meant a LOT more work for me: adjusting the syllabus to take out stuff is really really hard to do. I haven’t managed to figure it out yet and I’ve spent DAYS on it. There may be some “tricks” to doing this but they would be only tricks, in my view. To do the job I do as a professional teacher, this “reducing” of work is actually an insult to my standards…

I’ve also already crammed meetings that were to happen today (Friday, Aug. 21) on to other days (that isn’t a “reduction” is it?). Already this semester I have had some incredibly long and grueling work days.

And today I’ve been “not working” all morning answering emails to about a dozen prospective students (which is part of an administrative assignment that I have 3 units release time for—and no other time to do it in).

So it’s really working out well for me. Somehow, I have the feeling that Rollin Richmond planned this Friday, and that Saturday in December, to be like this. How can we NOT be prepping now, and grading then?

I would like to “store up” this “extra” work I’m doing now in order to accommodate this furlough day, and distribute it as “off time” throughout the term, but I have a feeling that this is not going to be possible to do and I have the feeling that management figured it would be like this. “Furlough” means extra work, not less work, but now done for ....I was going to write “free,” but I’m actually paying a huge price for this…

Are we certain this is anonymous? I hope so….

.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) said, on 08/22/2009 at 11:24 AM:∞

I agree with Michael the only meaningful way to reduce workload for me is to reduce the number of classes and lectures I must prepare. For the dean of CAHSS to arbitrarily tell me to shift some of my furlough days from teaching days to non-teaching days is to force me to teach the same number of classes with less time to prepare. Absurd!

.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) said, on 08/24/2009 at 02:58 PM:∞

It is quite clear that furlough related frustration levels are running high, especially during this first week of the semester. The uncertainty of the rest of the semester lies ahead. The challenges of maintaining the high quality of your course with 10% less time may seem insurmountable.

However, if we were to fast-forward to the end of the semester and look back, we would then be able to determine more clearly just how on earth we managed to continue to offer meaningful learning experiences with 10% less time.

I am sure that in December there will be some “severe hardship” stories worth sharing in order to avoid them in the future. But I also imagine that we will discover that a few truly inspired people will have applied all their imagination and skill in forming creative and effective solutions.

A lot of instructors have told me in this blog and through casual conversations that they intend to reduce their content by ~10%. I am interested in hearing more concisely what this means in your situation.

For instance:
- If you have 20 chapters of reading will you only require 18 now?
- Will you offer fewer assignments that require grading?
- Will you shift some of your face-to-face activities to the online environment?

Or, if your content is not going to be reduced, do you intend to make up a portion of the 10% workload reduction by attending less committee meetings, etc.?

When I started this blog I fully expected that some constructive venting would be necessary, at least initially, as this is such a painful process that we are all going through. However, at some point we will all need to establish creative approaches to moving forward.

If you have some specific ideas about how you plan to reduce your workload by 10%, I would very much appreciate you sharing them here.

.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) said, on 08/26/2009 at 09:30 AM:∞

I’ll keep content the same, but assign more discussion boards with detailed requirements for “critical thinking” responses; I’ll also have students take turns monitoring discussions and preparing critiques/summaries.

.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) said, on 08/28/2009 at 08:33 AM:∞

I’m a little worried that if I ever get a job interview
after I graduate. I might be asked a question about the 10%
I didn’t learn.

.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) said, on 08/28/2009 at 10:52 AM:∞

Tim - Don’t worry about that 10%. You should be just fine since your HSU professors have likely created significant learning experiences that will allow you to remember the other 90%.

Once you reach the job market you will be far ahead of your competition who, on average will remember far less than 90% of what they learned in college.

I appreciate dark humor too. In times of stress, it is often humor that helps us move closer towards constructive solutions to complex problems.

.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) said, on 08/28/2009 at 02:03 PM:∞

I have cut 10% from my classes. This includes: topics not covered, hands-on experiential workshops deleted, and one-on-one sessions i used to require to go over student’s final projects deleted.  I believe that this will in fact decrease student’s learning, particularly the workshop and one-on-one sessions. I have also made it clear on the syllabus that i will spend less time making notes on their assignments and rely more on generic statements such as “good” and “fair.” I’ve modified my grading rubrics to be less narrative oriented and to allow for the circling of these generic statements.

As another person noted, the furlough has also resulted in work increases in modifying well-honed syllabi, meeting with students in crises over cut classes and people soft software issues, plus the increased workload in my non-compensated administrative duties as head of a program. (Am i to anticipate even more of an increase if graduate coordinator assigned time is cut?)

One matter that seems lost to many is that for some classes and disciplines, the staff furlough days are a double whammy. Students have 6 less Fridays to get access to essential equipment.  Students in these classes are being cut far more than 10%.

Riley, you are hoping that we will move beyond venting to creative forward thinking strategies, but at this point my moral seems to drop lower as i sit in department meetings or listen to student’s frustrations with lack of services and so forth.  This on top of increased workload from unfunded administrative mandates (assessment being one of them) makes for a lousy work situation. Will i implement any of the stimulating ideas i learned in May’s Learning & Teaching Institute, not likely for the reasons already stated.