All my classes are full this semester. That’s a good thing. The bad thing is that I’ve had a constant barrage of students wanting me to override the prerequisites for the courses. I’ve done it for three students only: one transferred from one section to another section (same class but different hours), two others were students with me previously and were good students with known work habits. Other students have been frustrated by the university’s policies but, as long as my classes are full, I would be cutting my throat to allow more students than we have equiptment for.

However, the real question is why doesn’t this institution primarily feature digital courses. Photo chemicals, paper and supplies are in short supply and getting more scarce. Several stores in the area have closed in the past year but, more importantly, manufacturers are ceased making large quantities of their products. I can teach this same course as a 100% digital course but, students better have the instruction manuals for their cameras because it is too difficult for one person (me) to know each and every camera and how they operate. SLR cameras are a little more consistent in the way they work but, students still need to have manuals so that they can figure out how everything works because my course requires manual operation.

When the change comes we will need more computers. Some students have laptops and, we have a wireless connection outside the lab but, things will need to be changed in my syllabus to keep students working in the classroom/lab rather than saying, “I have Photoshop at home. I’ll do the assignment at home professor,” then leave class early without the benefit of some important information I share with my students. The digital course is potentially set to take place on another campus that has more computers but, we’ll see how it transpires over the next few months.