The Last Should Have Been First : After Draconian threats, San Diego State president picks ‘humane’ option

Just three months ago, San Diego State University President Thomas Day insisted that a mass layoff of tenured faculty members and closure of entire departments--from anthropology to aerospace engineering--were the only prudent responses to expected state budget cuts at the university. Now, the hard-nosed administrator of the California State University system’s largest campus has been contradicted by an unlikely source: himself.

This week, Day abandoned his call for Draconian cuts, at least for the fall semester. He postponed the layoffs by using funds once earmarked for infrastructure repairs, travel and library books. Good. That belated turnaround brings some relief--however temporary--to besieged professors and students. But if there was a way to balance the university’s books without firing almost 150 full-time professors and canceling hundreds of classes, why wasn’t it the first option, rather than the last?

The system’s other 19 campuses, including Cal State L.A., Northridge and Fullerton, were able to find acceptable options. Fresno, the campus that proposed laying off the second-largest number of tenured professors, eventually sent out only about 16 pink slips.

Day’s original proposal was so startling that the American Assn. of University Professors in Washington launched an inquiry. The California Faculty Assn. called for professors to demand his removal.

Day can be ousted by only the system’s board of trustees. Despite the pain the campus has been through, there is no evidence that his removal is necessary. Day is regarded by many peers as a shrewd administrator. That expertise will come in handy when the university inevitably faces more budget woes--perhaps in just a few months.

But when the next round of tough decisions arrives, Day will come to the table with his credibility tarnished. A less heavy-handed approach--focused on saving jobs and classes rather than buildings and junkets--would have been more practical.

“I’m very much against using the (year’s) infrastructure money for this,” Day says, “but I want to be humane.”

That should have been his rallying cry from the beginning.