As many of you probably know, SDSU is facing a faculty strike during the week of January 22nd. Since 2020, faculty have received raises totaling 3% while the CPI is up 18%.
In the week leading up to the strike, the following message was posted on the SDSU learning management system for students to read as they logged in:
The California Faculty Association and Teamsters have announced plans for strike activities January 22 through January 26 at all CSU campus locations. SDSU remains open and the university has not canceled classes. University services also remain open, including dining, the library, the unions, resource centers and other services. As individual classes may be canceled by faculty members who choose to honor the strike, students should contact their faculty members directly with questions about courses and class assignments. Per the CSU, if a class or service is canceled, you are welcome to share that information via an online form that was developed and provided by the CSU. More information: sdsu.edu/strike
The online form (Smartsheet Forms) asks students to report on professors who cancel classes to participate in the strike. Students on the SDSU Reddit site are up in arms about these nefarious actions on the part of CSU leadership; some of them have even developed ways of spamming the online form with fake information to make the resulting data useless to the “leaders” in the CSU Chancellor’s Office.
I am simply providing this as information for those considering SDSU specifically and the CSU more generally. You need to consider whether institutions that are led by individuals who would have us act as if we are in present-day Russia are the places you want to attend or send your children.
@my3sonssd@aquapt I’m hearing that it is also happening at Cal Poly SLO and students are calling it the “snitch sheet.”
I am wondering if this is happening at all of the 23 California State University campuses as – apparently – this upcoming week’s faculty strikes is the first time that faculty will be on strike in a coordinated system-wide effort. I’m hearing this second-hand so I don’t really know the details.
@Gumbymom@cc_sorin is there a way to add a tag that references all Cal State universities?
It is, and that’s the point. You have a system whose “leaders” think it’s okay to have students report on their instructors like they do in Russia. You’ll have to decide if that’s the kind of school you’d like your own students to attend.
Silly me. I would have just thought this is a way for schools to pacify unhappy students when they show up to class only to be disappointed that they were robbed of their paid learning experiences.
Since faculties can’t be reprimanded for authorized strike under labor law, they can care less if they get “snitched” out. In fact, most probably already told their department heads their intentions to “walk out” if called for.
The bigger question/problem here is why CSU have enough “unhappy” faculty that they need to strike.
Sounds like a money issue. IMO the faculty are in a tough spot, lots of people with PhDs or other college level teaching cred who would take their jobs, whether full time or as an adjunct.
Seems to me that registering you didn’t receive a class you’ve paid for is helpful for students who might subsequently want to sue for a refund of their tuition fees. Whether such litigation would help or hurt the instructors’ cause remains to be seen. But if I was the administration, I wouldn’t be sympathetic to claims for a refund from students who failed to complain about it at the time.
Ok, this might be a stupid question, but I teach at a graduate school, when I cancel class I hold a make-up class for it. Does that not happen for undergraduates?
I think it depends on the school and the instructor.
My CC, if an instructor knows he/she will be out, the department tries to find a sub for the class.
In cases of emergencies, I have heard students complain, they would show up to an empty room and that class usually doesn’t get made up. The person missing, usually pacifies the students by offering “extra credit” so no one complains.
But if there is any unifying rule, I don’t know.
I assume that the answer will depend on how long the strike goes on. Catching up a whole week within a 10 week quarter is tough, but if they strike again it will become impossible.
In the U.K. there have been repeated strikes and refusal to mark exams for the last few years. That’s led students to sue for a refund of tuition, though it’s unclear if they will succeed.
Not in my experience (I teach undergrads and have worked at several universities). If I have to cancel class, I just cancel class – it happens rarely, usually due to a planned trip for a conference or similar, so it’s scheduled in advance. It would be impossible to hold a make-up class at my commuter campus, but even at a residential campus, too many people have conflicting schedules. The new (Covid-adjusted) era of teaching makes alternatives possible, like meeting remotely or posting recorded lectures, but I haven’t done that often (and, back to the original topic, it would constitute crossing virtual picket lines).
I also take the reporting option in this way. The Admin has provided an outlet for the group of students and parents who are complaining about cancelled classes. I can just hear the indignation about how much money the student/family paid for their student to not learn.
“WHO CAN I CONTACT ABOUT THIS?”
Voila, there’s a form for that.
As a side note, I haven’t heard the word “narc” used since I was in high school.
