Sustainability In Relation To Remote Work

By Stephanie Diana Eubank

I talk a lot on my YouTube channel about teaching within the California State University (CSU) system. As national news reported, the CFA (the Teachers’ Union representing the faculty of all 23 CSUs) went on strike this past week. Where I am a member of the CFA Union, I will stay away from political criticism or other commentary. I will comment on one trend noticed on both sides of the negotiation table, which kept repeating the topic of sustainability.

In business, when discussing sustainability, there are three categories discussed. The three categories are:

Financial,
Business Longevity, and
Ecologically.

When discussing all three types of sustainability, remote work is a positive benefit to ensuring sustainability in business. Yet, the narrative from leadership is that remote work is a hindrance to all aspects of business. Even though COVID proved all that spin from leadership and concerns noted in research from the leadership perspective since 1985, it is and has always been wrong.

So, using the controversy of the teachers’ strike as an example, I want to look at how remote work could have been used to address sustainability concerns at the negotiating table.

Financial, Offering more remote or hybrid course options would help teachers save money on commuting, clothes, and other resources professors must provide to teach. Offering more remote and hybrid courses will help the university save money. Money on utilities was spent on faculty, staff, and students taking time off due to the COVID-19 resurgence. More remote therapists’ options allow the universities to afford more mental health services and generally at a less expensive rate. No longer needed buildings can be retrofitted to provide housing for students, staff, and faculty. This would create many financial opportunities for the university and keep land usage in line, helping to
- provide more enrichment to all.
- Making more room for remote and hybrid learning and the money the whole university system makes and saves would leave room for lower tuition costs, enhancing student enrollment. It will also create room for more returning students who are in their careers and want to finish their degrees, opening up more student demographics.
Business Longevity and students and faculty are screaming out for more remote and hybrid work and courses, which will boost enrollment. Remote and hybrid courses and remote work would help give students and staff more of a work-life balance. Which has been proven to decrease issues of Workplace PTSD and workplace violence (this includes school shootings). It will also help students be set up for success and lower stress in higher education. Both for faculty and students. So, many faculty members work more than one job,
- and so do our students to afford life with inflation. Remote work would lower commutes for all involved.
- Decreased traffic and commuting to campus will also help reduce stress for students and faculty.
Economically.
- With more students going to class remotely and more opportunities for remote work for faculty and staff, there are several ways the campus can evolve and become even more of a sanctuary of knowledge for the community, such as developing on-campus housing for faculty and students, keeping affordability in mind, and allowing faculty to spend less on coming to campus. We often forget the costs of going into the office, and many professors do not make that much, so any cost saving helps a lot.

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