Students might see more Friday classes on their schedules next year as a result of an initiative to refocus the standard schedule agreed upon more than 15 years ago.
Classes that have been held on Mondays and Wednesdays in the past might now be scheduled on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, a decision made mainly to reduce scheduling conflicts for students, MSU Provost Kim Wilcox said.
The changes will take effect for classes next fall, he said.
Wilcox said the Monday, Wednesday, Friday schedule is the university’s standard scheduling procedure and has been for more than a decade. Exceptions to that procedure have led to a high number of classes meeting only on Mondays and Wednesdays.
“What has happened is … we’ve been pretty flexible in exceptions,” Wilcox said.
Minimizing scheduling conflicts and providing more accessibility for students is a reason for the change to the standard schedule, he said.
“As we start to reorganize and cut budgets, I’m afraid we’re going to have fewer and fewer class sections available,” Wilcox said. “As class sections become fewer, we can’t afford class conflicts. … Let’s get back to the standard schedule that we all agreed upon.”
Classes with exceptions in terms of content and nature of instruction might stay the same, Wilcox said.
Wilcox said the move will make scheduling easier for students and provide more classroom space and flexibility.
College of Engineering Dean Satish Udpa said advantages outweigh disadvantages.
“We’re basically redesigning things,” he said. “Any time there’s a change, there’s some concern like, ‘We’re doing this for what?’ … We’ll benefit.”
But not everyone agrees.
Elementary education junior Zoe Hawes said her classes this year mostly are on Mondays and Wednesdays, something she would miss if she took more Friday classes.
“I really like having Fridays off because I can work … and it makes the week a lot shorter,” she said.
Students have not been notified of new enforcements of the standard schedule and should not be upset by the increase in Friday classes, Wilcox said.
“I hope we recruit more serious students to MSU than those who schedule time based on getting Fridays off,” he said.
He said professors who worry about planning for classes that normally would run Mondays and Wednesdays should not have difficulty adjusting if they are asked to teach on a different schedule.
“I would hope that professors wouldn’t find it that much more difficult,” he said. “It will take some changing of some materials and the like, but … it’s not like this is a totally new thing — it’s the base system.”
Staff writer Heather Guenther contributed to this report.
Support student media! Please consider donating to The State News and help fund the future of journalism.
