Commuting to campus can be one of the most infuriating experiences UTSA students endure during their time as Roadrunners. Battling for a decent parking spot, being on guard for campus police, trying to predict when a shuttle will arrive — the headache is never-ending. However, students continue to face these challenges in order to attend their classes.

Students spend an astronomical amount of money on tuition, fees, parking permits, books; the list goes on. Students sacrifice their time, finances and on many occasions, their sanity to successfully complete their course loads.

After all these sacrifices, wouldn’t you think professors would try to acknowledge, respect and alleviate some of these stress-inducing situations when possible?

One prime example of a college-life-made-easier UTSA amenity is BlackBoard Learn. It’s safe to say that most Runners have experienced their fair share of annoyances with this virtual learning system, but it is hard to argue that BB doesn’t make it easier for a professor to send out messages to specific courses — mass email made easy!

With a program that allows a professor to send a message to their students in minutes, why wouldn’t they use BlackBoard to effectively contact their students with class updates — namely when they decide to cancel a class?

Don’t get me wrong, on the rare occasion I get a notification from BlackBoard saying that one of my classes is cancelled, I let out a sigh of relief and use that time to work on other things I am behind on in life. However, when I allot time to prepare for a class, commute almost an hour to San Antonio, fight parking, trek halfway across campus only to arrive to class to find a carelessly taped sheet of paper saying, “Professor so-and-so’s Class is Cancelled,” I become agitated and feel dismissed without warning.

As a graduating senior who works, is involved with multiple student organizations and trying to figure out what post-college life will entail, my time is insanely valuable. If I am going to be late to a class or I know I need to leave a class early, I always email my professor out of respect for their time. I don’t think it is irrational to ask for the same courtesy from professors in regards to my time as a student. I understand emergencies happen and it is not always possible to communicate in times of distress, but this printout, eviction-style notice has become a tasteless class cancellation trend among UTSA professors.

Professors, perhaps we should instate a campus-wide Golden Rule: respect your students’ time as you would like yours to be respected.