Humboldt State University

Center for Excellence in Learning & Teaching

Learning & Teaching Blog

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

posted by Riley Quarles on 08/13/2009

The recently imposed faculty furloughs have generated a climate of uncertainty that I believe warrants an open campus discussion. Humboldt State’s designated closure days for instructional faculty are:
Friday, August 21
Friday, November 20
Saturday, December 19
Friday, January 15
Friday, March 12
Monday, May 17

We are all in the same boat. We are still suffering from the shock of having to manage a significant reduction in time (and pay). However, perhaps together we can develop constructive ways to move forward. We will have to find ways to continue to offer fine educational experiences for our students.

While there are a number of helpful documents posted on the Academic Personnel Services website (http://www.humboldt.edu/~aps/furloughs.html), faculty are still working out the specifics of how furlough days will impact instruction and courses. If you have developed a few ideas for coping with the impact of furloughs on your courses, please share them in this CELT blog by answering one or more of the questions below, as it will undoubtedly help other faculty as well.

If you prefer to post anonymously, you may do so by entering a pseudonym in the name field when composing your Comment.

  1. Given the mandated 10% reduction in time, do you plan to reduce your overall course content (e.g., by 10%)?
  2. Will you change the number, or nature, of student assignments? For example, will you “reduce assignments that require grading, revise evaluation instruments” (as suggested by the Humboldt State University Faculty Furlough Proposed Implementation Guidelines .pdf), shift some face-to-face learning activities to online, or develop another strategy that you’re willing to share?
  3. Are you intending to have students work on an assignment on a furloughed instructional day?
  4. How do you foresee the furlough impacting students (e.g., will there be a need for increased office hours if the instructor has fewer scheduled class times)?

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