Chapel next semester will be pushed back to 10:35.Photo credit: Kimberly Smith
After several months of numerous discussions with groups on campus, the administration decided to formulate a new universal campus schedule that will affect both undergraduate and graduate students. A complete list of the new class time periods was emailed to all faculty at the beginning of this semester.
The new class schedule will take effect this fall. The new time slots will include 15-minute breaks between each class period, instead of alternating among breaks of 10, 15 and 20 minutes.
Students will have a one-day per week option with classes starting at 7:15 a.m., a two-day per week option, which includes Monday/Friday, and the traditional three-day per week option.
Alongside new course times, chapel will officially start at 10:35 a.m. and run until 11:25 a.m., instead of running from 9:30 to 10:20 a.m. This allows students to take up to three classes before chapel.
“We are really excited for this new change,” said Dr. Vicky Bowden, vice provost for undergraduate studies. “We will have all this information provided with the student advising materials so students can plan effectively for Fall 2014.”
Bowden added that professors are currently using the new schedule to select their class times for next semester. This means that during academic advising, students will choose classes in accordance to the new schedule.
The decision to create a new class schedule was brought upon by the needs of the growing capacity of the undergraduate students.
Schedule of new class times which will take affect this upcoming fall. Courtesy: Dr. Brooke Van Dam
“The reality is … we are only at 47 percent classroom use,” said Bowden. “… our problem is not space capacity but effective space utilization.”
With new changes on the way, administration faces challenges the university has never encountered before.
A later chapel time may call for extended breakfast and lunch times along with a secondary location for chapel to accommodate Dinner Rally days.
Trolley services will also be also change to adapt to the new schedule.