First came WONK. Then came Gen Ed program changes. Now, to complete the trifecta of transition, AU has made major changes to the academic calendar and schedule. For those students returning to campus next fall (sorry, seniors, you’ll be in the real world then), you should prepare for some major transitions that will forever change your world. Or, in reality, change your daily schedule and slightly affect your summer and winter breaks.
Many of us believe that we go back to school too early in the year. Our friends at state schools often don’t start until after Labor Day, and it would be nice to enjoy a few more days of the warm, humid August weather before resigning ourselves to sitting in warm, humid classrooms. This will change next fall as the academic calendar is shifted forward by a full week. Fall term will start Aug. 29 and spring term will start Jan. 17. In addition, a winter term offering special programs would be created, running from Dec. 23rd until Jan. 13.
Also, that 7:30 a.m. class time on your potential future schedule won’t be a mix-up due to Daylight Savings Time. Under the changes, all current class time slots will be shifted forward (or backward, depending on your sensibilities) 25 minutes — so that dreaded 8:30 a.m. class becomes a slightly more reasonable 8:55 a.m. — and a new 7:30 a.m. time slot will be added. The epically early time slot will have classes for both grads and undergrads but will ostensibly mostly benefit grad students trying to hustle downtown to a job or internship.
While we acknowledge that change is good, we hope that AU has a good reason making such dramatic changes to our system.
The early start to winter break allows those of us wanting to pick up some part-time work over the holiday season to get some hours at our former summer employers. Most employers won’t take on students coming back much closer to Christmas, as they will have already filled the extra season staff positions they need. In addition, transportation costs skyrocket closer to the holiday season, so that plane ticket home may run you a few more (hundred) dollars on Dec. 19 instead of Dec. 12. While a later start and a winter term might be nice, is it really worth all the extra costs we may endure as a result?
Although we feel that the changes to the class time schedule may be necessary to accommodate an ever-growing student population, we would like to include a caveat. As students that have struggled many a time to make it to that 8:30 a.m. class on a rainy, cold day in the middle of winter, we implore the university to keep that 7:30 a.m. time slot reserved for graduate classes or elective courses, and not required undergraduate classes.
Those of us that have sat through a Gen Ed class at that early hour know that attendance and participation levels in such classes are typically low. Maybe it’s the hour, maybe we just haven’t had a chance to grab our morning coffee yet — either way, unless it’s a class we really, really, really want to take, we’re less likely to get something out of a course scheduled for that early.
The bottom line is that we hope the University considers the full ramifications of these decisions before implementing them across the board. Soliciting student input will be essential in ensuring that our concerns are fully addressed — in other words, that we won’t be out of work over the break and trekking to ECON-100 twice a week at 7:30 a.m.
