Editorial: Scheduling changes

Almost everyone agrees that the current undergraduate academic schedule, where many classes are clustered during the middle of the day on Tuesday and Thursday, is inadequate, first because it limits students' ability to take the courses that they want and second because the high volume of classes creates numerous logistical strains, such as crowded eating places and buses. The only debate is about how to alter the schedule to alleviate this situation.

The provost's Task Force on Course Scheduling is looking at a variety of different of changes to the current schedule that it can present to the provost in its final report this semester. All of these possibilities aim to reduce the congestion during the prime Tuesday/Thursday times.

The most effective way to reduce the number of classes scheduled during the Tuesday/Thursday afternoon slots is simply to limit the number of classes that each department can schedule during popular time periods. This would force departments to evenly space their classes throughout the day and the week, solving the logistical problems with the current schedule without necessitating drastic changes.

One possible schedule change that the task force is considering would provide for one set of 75-minute classes Monday and Thursday and another set of 75-minute classes Tuesday and Friday. This proposal, however, met vocal opposition when it was presented at a January meeting of directors of undergraduate study. The only benefit of the Tuesday/Friday plan over the proposal of increasing Monday/Wednesday classes within the current scheduling system is that it provides students and teachers an extra day to prepare between the two classes. For example, while taking Tuesday/Friday classes, students would have both Tuesday and Wednesday to prepare instead of only Wednesday with the Tuesday/Thursday system.

This extra day has potential benefits if students use it wisely to do their work and prepare for the second class meeting of the week more thoroughly than they currently do. However the sad truth is that many students will wait until the last minute to do their work regardless of how much time they have between classes. Thus, the impact of this change will probably be minimal.

The crucial thing students and faculty need to decide is whether having an additional day of preparation is worth having classes on Friday, which could be an inconvenience to many students and faculty. The administration should work to ensure that students can still adjust their schedules so that they do not have Friday classes if they so desire and should not be pushing Friday or early morning classes for purposes of social engineering. Altering the schedule should be done only to increase flexibility, not to accomplish other goals surreptitiously..