Day 36

The Chronicle of Higher Education, which is the premier publication for college and university news in the US, had a special section last week called, "The Crisis in California." This section included commentary on the lessons we can learn from the crisis, as well as a plea by Yudoff himself for everyone to get on board with tuition increases. Today, the headlining feature article on the Chronicle's website is, "At Transfer Time, California Students Hit a Dead End." California's public higher education system includes a pipeline for two-year community college students to transfer to the state's mid-tier Cal State schools, or the more prestigious and selective UC system to earn their bachelors degrees. This three-tiered transfer system has historically been the envy of many states, and has served the citizens of California exceptionally well for decades. But this year, thousands of community college students have been rushing full force into a brick wall. The Cal States, and the UCs, are dropping enrollment numbers by the thousands, which means those slots normally filled by community college students are disappearing, and those students are being left stranded by the gaping hole left in the system from the state budget cuts. Or slashings, if you will. Taking time off from school before you've earned your degree can often lead to no degree attainment at all. According to the Chronicle, many of those abandoned students will now hang around their community colleges and fill seats in classes the don't need, which will take space from others trying to work toward the transfer process. Some will enroll in CAs private schools and spends tens of thousands more than they had planned, or will drop out all together. A quite significant portion of those transfer-hopefuls are first generation or non-traditional students, a group that California has in the recent past served extremely well. CA society is stratified enough as it is, but this will undoubtedly lead to an even wider margin between the haves and have nots. This will of course lead to a greater need for social services, many of which the state has recently flushed down the toilet. At a time when a high school diploma no longer cuts it in our high-tech workforce, California's education system is headed for the tank, and thousands and thousands of well-intentioned students will be left without a degree, and will lack the skills needed for higher-earning and producing jobs. Terrific. The state system is looking more and more like a private school that admits international and out of state students galore to help fill the tuition coffers, while leaving its local community to suffer.

I received an email today from the president of my alma mater about the university's financial situation. My former university, like most others, suffered financial hardship and worry about the future. Hiring was frozen, capital projects halted, and most other spending stopped in its tracks. For one year. Financial teams worked hard and furious to make the best use of the capital in their hands, and kept the university running. After one year of tight-belted budgeting and assessment of efficiency, the university is once again hiring faculty and staff to replace those who left during the freeze as well as to continue filling other vacant positions. They have boosted financial aid to help the families of students in economic trouble, and have given strong, competitive packages to incoming students. Everyone, except top administrators, received raises. In the past, I have known this institution to be, well, not always so great at managing money. But the crisis along with outstanding (new-ish) leadership has put the school not back where it started, but in even better shape.

So should I start applying for jobs at my alma mater, an institution where everyone held it together during tough times, and which is now actively working toward an improved future? Would I be a traitor if I jumped off this starving, crumbling, nearly derailed UC train onto one that paused for a moment to recalculate, and is now moving forward again? Practically no one sees this furlough year as a time of planning for a better year next year. Things are most likely going to be even worse next year. They won't drop tuition back down after the crisis, they'll just keep raising it. The state isn't going to make up for twenty-plus years of cutting our budgets or refill the gaping holes they've left behind. I won't get three or four years worth of raises when things improve. The university won't be able to go on a faculty and staff hiring spree because the cash needed for a massive wave of hiring just won't exist. There is at least one department on campus where they started with a staff of six, and they've laid off all but ONE person in the office, who can now only manage to keep the office open three hours a day. How can one person who is on her own furlough possibly run an entire department and have any hope of maintaining Berkeley's excellence as Yudoff asserts is a top priority? This poor person probably has a tough enough time just making sure faculty and student workers get paid, never mind scheduling classes, advising and registering students, processing admissions applications, awarding fellowship payments, maintaining classroom space, filing reimbursement requests, or even answering the damn phone. Somehow, it is all just a little more bearable when everyone else is suffering the same way. Hearing about how another gigantic university with its own small-endowment problems and perpetually tight budget has managed to start climbing out of the crisis is, however, a little tough.