I submitted my syllabi for copying this morning after making some modifications. I inserted the words "instructor furloughed" for those dates where an out-of-class reading assignment was scheduled. Also, in discussion of office hours, I've noted that due to furlough I'm not available on X dates (2 days regularly slated for office hours, a third that is not a regularly scheduled day--but now not available for those "by appt." hours we must we offer). Further, I stated on both syllabi: "student email read during office hours." More than anything, this is meant to convey to my students that I reserve the right to NOT deal with their email except during that time. I stated this orally in one class last semester (w/no apologies, just a btw, "I take care of student email at this time"), and it really cut down on the last minute excuses for why an assignment cannot be turned in, an exam not taken, etc. All I've done now is formalize this attempt at boundary maintenance given the charge to cut my workload by nearly 10%. Finally, I decided that I wasn't going to be grading subjective exam questions on the final exam for the one class I was thinking I'd assign some. Gone. Scantron it is. For one, my finals are scheduled for the very last two days of the final exam period; and two, I am furloughing myself for a couple days right after those exams and before grades are due. So there you have it.
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