The University announced plans to move back to having classes on Fridays starting next fall semester, according to an email sent to the student body by Interim Provost David Marker on Jan. 23.
Marker said, “We are committed to providing small class sizes, personalized attention and more convenience in our course scheduling.”
Classes will move to a Monday-Wednesday-Friday or Tuesday-Thursday schedule, with weekday classes beginning at 8 a.m. and running for 50 minutes on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and for 75 minutes on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
However, evening classes will begin at 6:00 p.m. in the fall, rather than 5:30 p.m.
Marker said the change will provide commuter students more time to transition from their workday to the classroom, while also alleviating parking congestion somewhat.
Faculty Senate President Chris Pomory said in an email, “The faculty has a mixed reaction to the plan. Some think it is a good idea.
Some have concerns about commuter students who have to drive long distances to get here and students who have gotten use to work schedules that include Fridays.”
Pomory said the Faculty Senate’s input was not sought before the plan was put forward.
Student Government Association President Josh Finley said in an email that SGA also was not consulted for input and was not officially informed of the plan until two weeks ago.
Finley said, “This change would provide a wider variety of schedules and less congestion for parking. This would also improve our classroom utilization, creating a more efficient use of classroom space.”
Kim Brown, chief of staff for President Judy Bense, pointed to enrollment growth as one of the reasons for the change.
“We only have 65 classrooms on our campus, and so we must use our classrooms on Friday in order to meet student demand,” Brown said.
Brown said that while state funding was not one of the immediate reasons for this change, “the state conducts a study annually of our classroom utilization. UWF has some of the lowest utilization rates in the state. If we are to secure state funding for building new classrooms then we must effectively use our current classrooms.”
When asked why input was not sought from SGA and the Faculty Senate while this plan was being discussed, Marker said in an email to The Voyager, “I only arrived on campus to begin working on January 3. Virtually all of the work on the revised class schedule was done by the time I arrived. I am attempting to pull together the principal architects of the plan and will put you in touch with them.”
The Voyager will follow up on this story as more details become available.
W. Paul Smith
Staff Writer
