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Friday, February 10, 2012
Tough times ahead for students and professors
by Matthew Ceccato, published on February 2, 2010 at 8:40 PM
Storyline: Life
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With unemployment rising and private college tuition skyrocketing, more and more people are returning to school at all ages. Sacramento State and Sacramento City College have both seen an increase in enrollment despite an increase in fees.
Sacramento State's fees were raised $672 per year. Increased fees doesn't equal a better education. After reaching a compromise with the Board of Trustees, the California State University Employee's Union approved 24 furlough days school wide. These days are designated under the direction of President Alexander Gonzalez and each department head.
With eight campus-wide furlough days, the entire school shuts down. Students are unable to inquire about financial aid or other services, teachers are forbidden from grading or preparing for the next lecture and the administration is banned from work on or off campus.
In essence, students at Sac State are paying 30 percent more per class for 10 percent less class time than in previous years. Teachers are forced to re-tool their lecture plan for the added days off.
"My biggest concern involves students getting into the classes they need for graduation", said Kim Roberts, a psychology professor at Sac State. "There are seniors that only need one class to graduate and they are unable to get into the class needed."
Other problems plague local students as well. Class sizes have swollen to record numbers, forcing students to take fewer units than planned.
"I enrolled on my exact enrollment day and every class I wanted was already closed or wait-listed," City College student Charles Latham said. "I tried around 30 classes and couldn't find a single one. I started the semester wait-listed for eight classes— I got into one."
With a decrease in the amount of instruction days, professors are tailoring their lesson plans for the new schedule. Essays, projects and even finals have all been cut from various classes by the professor. Students are upset about paying more for less class time.
"We are still tested on information they don't have time to teach in class," Sac State senior Kirsten Williams said. "I absolutely believe my education has been effected by furloughs."
Photos by Michael Ramirez
Photo #1: The main enterance to Sac State
Photo #2: Professor Robert's psychology class
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The faculty and main staff unions voluntarily agreed to furlough and, collectively, temporarily saved an amount of money that might otherwise have caused the student fee increase to be twice as high. Using a different comparison, the $16m saved through furloughs represents about 3,000 class sections.
The 3,000 figure is CSU wide, which equals an increase of roughly 175 sections, most for lower division. Upper division classes were cut 7%.
On some campuses the Presidents have designated more of the faculty furlough days than at Sac State.
The $16m "savings" realized by furloughs during the 2009-2010 year (which is approximately equivalent to the cost of 3,000 sections) is specific to Sac State only, not the system.