The Undergraduate Council met on Wednesday to discuss the possibility of switching to a four-day from a five-day University and the finalization of the decrease in the amount of days students have at the beginning of the semester to add or drop a class.
Setting an earlier date for the last day to add or drop a class at the beginning of the semester will increase student attendance during the first week of classes said Simon Bott, director of undergraduate affairs and academic advising and professor of chemistry.
"Students sometimes try classes out during the first week, but if they don’t like them they’ll just drop without any real consequences," Bott said. "When students do this without a real reason for dropping a class, they are just shopping around, and it’s not good for educational purposes."
The proposal, which was introduced to the Undergraduate Council last fall, is anticipated to take effect for all colleges.
The College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences and the Bauer College of Business are already on this academic schedule. When passed, the date will be set Universitywide.
This proposal is also helmed by Libby Barlow, executive director of Academic and Institutional Information, Sarah Fisherman, associate dean of College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences and Ian Evans, associate professor of geology. On the other side of this decision, there are many students who have reasons for not signing up at the beginning of each semester.
Bott said students who have legitimate reasons not to be signed up for a class can voice their situations and have their schedules adjusted before falling behind in their other classes.
Financial aid among students is another concern with the new registration deadline. With this deadline being raised, students’ financial aid will have time to come in and activate.
The idea of going from having classes all week to having classes only Monday through Thursday was also introduced by psychology professor Richard Kasschau.
The initial proposal from Kasschau supported having a Monday/Wednesday, Tuesday/Thursday and Friday/Saturday schedule.
"We’ve also got a competing proposal that’s for just three hours on Friday. Right now there are lots of mixed reviews from those who have heard the idea," Bott said. "I’m getting absolutely pulverized on it. People either think it’s an awesome idea or people hate it."
