By hold­ing classes last week with­out a signed con­tract for the 2010-11 school year, FSU fac­ulty mem­bers proved that teach­ing is not about the money.

The Ferris Faculty Association (FFA) and the Employer Negotiations Team (ENT), rep­re­sent­ing the FSU Administration, have yet to agree to terms of con­tract after more than 13 months of nego­ti­at­ing. The admin­is­tra­tion pre­sented an offer with salary increases of 2, 2.25, and 2.5 per­cent over the next three years, but the FFA turned it down.

Multiple fac­ulty mem­bers pick­eted out­side of the Faculty Crisis Center on Aug. 25 and it looked as if classes may not be held the next week with­out a new con­tract. The Aug. 29 dead­line came and went with no deal, but pro­fes­sors were still in class on Monday morn­ing ready to teach.

By teach­ing instead of strik­ing, they basi­cally lost any lever­age they had against the admin­is­tra­tion. The FFA could choose to strike later in the semes­ter, but since they taught the entire first week it does not look like that is what they want. It will now be dif­fi­cult to get the con­tract terms they are look­ing for with­out leverage.

I admire the pro­fes­sors’ will­ing­ness to instruct, even though the con­tract has not been signed. It’s not like they are teach­ing for noth­ing, because they are still get­ting paid based on the pre­vi­ous con­tract terms. By teach­ing last week, the fac­ulty mem­bers proved that they care about the stu­dents of Ferris State and that money is not the only rea­son they teach.

As a stu­dent, it is reas­sur­ing to know that fac­ulty mem­bers are not “out to get” stu­dents as some think. When a bad grade shows up on the tran­script, stu­dents tend to blame it on the pro­fes­sor instead of their own effort, or lack thereof. For the most part, I think pro­fes­sors gen­uinely care about their stu­dents’ edu­ca­tion. Instructors need pupils just as much as pupils need instruc­tors. If there were no stu­dents, there would be no need for teachers.

Professors sim­ply want to teach. If they did not enjoy it, they prob­a­bly would not have cho­sen it as their pro­fes­sion. n