Today�s quiz covers the new math that�s associated with the ever shrinking teaching year here at St. Cloud State. Suppose you wanted to pay for a 3-credit course over a 15-week semester, not including a final-examination week. The total number of instructional hours you would receive for your tuition would be:

(a) 45
(b) 41.25
(c) 37.50
(d) 36
(e) 35

The correct answer this year and next is (d) 36 hours; but today we get word from our Academic Vice President that for the 2004-05 academic year, the correct answer will be (e) 35 hours.

How does this new math work? First one needs to understand that 3-credits (three hours a week) really means only 2.5 hours of classroom time. Next one must understand that faculty here need to have more and more non-instructional days - not so that we have more time for research, but so that we can sit through more and more faculty-workshop, forum-discussion, and diversity-training days. In 2004-05, our students will be able to attend classes on only 140 of their faculty�s 168 �duty days.�

Isn�t it interesting that word of our reduced teaching time comes out this week, when the legislature has finally adjourned, and when most students are off campus for the summer?