Just Kristin

School started today at SDSU, but I am not there. I am sad to not be there, but I am not there by choice — a choice based, sim­ply, on the following:

1. Tuition went up.
2. Fur­loughs were enacted, causing
   1. instruc­tors to be paid less, and
   2. stu­dents to get less class time, and there­fore less education.
3. Fewer classes were scheduled.
4. The idea that col­lege is sim­ply a series of check-boxes that need tick­ing off rather than a source of learn­ing was thereby strength­ened and reinforced.

As far as I can tell, the only peo­ple pleased with the fur­lough solu­tion for the fund­ing prob­lem are the mem­bers of the CSU Board of Trustees and other CSU exec­u­tives who dreamed it up. The fact that they were some­what exon­er­ated in this cor­po­rate audit earns them no reprieve, in my opin­ion, from con­dem­na­tion for their über-high pay­checks and lib­eral expense claims taken while the edu­ca­tion sys­tem they are employed to pro­tect and nur­ture wilts and stag­nates. Edu­ca­tion means noth­ing to these peo­ple, and they are try­ing to turn it into a high school exten­sion, or a time-killing check­list for the work-force-phobic, despite the efforts of those to whom it means a great deal. At any rate, fur­loughs were not part of the audi­tors’ sug­ges­tions, and they are not part of my plans… not if I can help it any­way. Unlike many, I am there to learn as much as I can, and if it results in a degree, great.

From the audit:

How did the State Audi­tor rec­om­mend the CSU address the audit’s key findings?

The Audi­tor made rec­om­men­da­tions in six areas: enhanced mon­i­tor­ing of com­pen­sa­tion poli­cies; uti­liza­tion of total com­pen­sa­tion for com­par­ing employee salaries with other insti­tu­tions; con­tin­ued mon­i­tor­ing and addi­tional report­ing on details of exec­u­tive tran­si­tion agree­ments; devel­op­ment of stricter state reg­u­la­tions gov­ern­ing leaves of absences for man­age­ment per­son­nel; stronger pol­icy gov­ern­ing the reim­burse­ment of relo­ca­tion expenses; and impos­ing dis­clo­sure and approval require­ments on out­side employ­ment for fac­ulty and other employ­ees through changes in state law or col­lec­tive bargaining.

So, CSU execs, how about putting edu­ca­tion back on the top of your lists, giv­ing us our class-time, and instead, cut­ting expenses that need to be cut? The pro­fes­sors have taken their cut, and I have paid my extra dues… Take one for the team and donate your salaries, your expenses. I want to go back to school, dammit. I miss Lau­rel. :)