Schedule amendments will allow for 20-minute period gaps
Come Fall 2013, there will be no more moaning over 8 a.m. classes or mad dashes from Gambrell to Swearingen to make it on time to back-to-back classes.
At its March 14 meeting, the Faculty Senate passed a measure by a two-to-one margin to change the starting time of the earliest classes from 8 to 8:30 a.m. and extend the period between classes from 15 minutes to 20 minutes.
"The Faculty Senate really spoke strongly about the change, especially the departments across Assembly Street — public health, music, even engineering, because it's on the other side of campus — and they know how difficult it is for the students to make it there on time," said Provost Michael Amiridis.
The schedule change has been being discussed for about two years, according to Faculty Senator and former Faculty Senate Chair Patrick Nolan, a sociology professor.
"It's been through different committees and many different people have looked through it over that time," Nolan said.
The campus's increasing sprawl and the strain that the 15 minute window between classes places on some students was a factor in the Faculty Senate's decision.
"Many of my students that I see in Sloan have to get over to the Coliseum for journalism classes and they just can't do it," Nolan said. "When I first came here, there weren't classroom buildings spread out so far like they are now. Fifteen minutes was a reality then, but it's not anymore, especially if students have to cross Assembly Street."
The construction of the new Darla Moore School of Business, set for completion in December 2013, emphasized the need to extend the time between classes.
"There's already a need for longer pass times, and when we start building in the Vista, it's just essential," said Helen Doerpinghaus, vice provost and dean of undergraduate studies. "When we build in the Vista, there's a lot more traffic over Assembly Street, and we're doing a lot to try to make it safer for students to cross, but we need time."
Low enrollment in 8 a.m. classes also affected the Faculty Senate's decision.
"8 (a.m.) classes were very underpopulated and underused. The registrar's office had to try to avoid scheduling many classes at that time because of that," Nolan said.
Doerpinghaus found that schools like the University of Florida and the University of Georgia, who have already implemented similar schedule changes, saw a positive response from students and faculty.
"They found that 8 a.m. classes are underenrolled — students don't want to get up that early — but what surprised us was that when they moved to the 8:30 time slot, the classes were much more popular," Doerpinghaus said. "It wasn't just students, it was faculty as well. Faculty often have children to drop off at school or little ones to take to day care, and the difference between preparing for a class at 8 and 8:30 just made a big difference, so what we're hoping is that 8:30 will be more popular than 8 was."
This will change the time structure of the class schedule; while there will be the same number of class periods each day, the academic day may stretch to 7 p.m. The latest nonevening classes currently end at 6:15 p.m., and, according to Amiridis, the changes will amount to a 35-minute difference in the day's end, though Doerpinghaus does not believe that this will be problematic for students.
"It runs the day longer, but students don't mind," Doerpinghaus said. "We have time to plan for the change and we already have classes that run after 4 p.m."