Campus Times
April 8, 2005
A taskforce will meet for the first time today to discuss changes to the academic calendars at the University.
The Unified Academic Calendar taskforce’s goals are to make better use of classroom facilities and course options, said Dean of Academic Support and Retention Services Adeline Cardenas-Clague.
One proposal would replace the traditional semester schedule with three 10-week terms.
Currently, there are five academic calendars at the University: the traditional undergraduate 15 week calendar, CAPA 20 week calendar, law 18 week calendar and term-based 10 or 11 week calendars.
With so many schedules, classroom space is often limited at night, and students have less opportunity to take advantage of crossover enrollment, Cardenas-Clague said.
The taskforce will look into amending class space problems that leave classrooms empty for 15 to 45 minutes at a time since class times do not fit neatly into 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. time slots, she said.
It will also work to make the concept that all classes are available to all students a reality. Although all the calendars currently merge for grading purposes into semester units, term-based schools on campus cannot easily provide crossover into other schools in part because of financial aid restrictions.
“The discussion will figure out a way that students can study in all parts of ULV,” Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs Al Clark said.
Not everyone agrees with changes to the calendars.
“I’m not sure the best solution is a uniform calendar,” Dean of Arts and Sciences Fred Yaffe said. “You might end up with two unhappy groups.”
The semester system meets the needs of traditional undergraduates while the term-based system works for nontraditional students, he said.
“Traditional undergraduate courses are pretty substantive and sufficient,” Cardenas-Clague agreed. “But the adult population is on an accelerated schedule. They need a lot more flexibility in (class) choice.”
Yaffe also questions how feasible a new calendar would be for programs like athletic training and chemistry that require 15-week courses as part of their accreditation stipulations.
While the focus for the taskforce seems to be fixing the incompatible scheduling of nontraditional students, it might be more influenced by the pressures of limited classroom space.
The taskforce should not be driven by classroom scheduling conflicts but by a concern for academic excellence, Yaffe said.
“Learning takes repetition and time. How can compressing it be better,” he said, explaining that language and chemistry courses, for example, would be less effective in a 10-week as opposed to a 15-week calendar.
Since it is still a discussion, the task force will consider a number of models, Cardenas-Clague said.
However, while some dates would change, Labor Day and Memorial Day would still mark the beginning and ending of the school year.
The task force will also consider a change in the January Interterm schedule.
The four-week intensive schedule is not being used effectively, Clark said.
Class offerings are slim, especially for freshmen, Clark said.
Some students choose not to take classes during Interterm in order to work to save money for the spring semester, Cardenas-Clague said.
Other students like to take advantage of the travel classes, Clark said.
Regardless, the taskforce will discuss Interterm as part of the reform process.
Yaffe would like to see the Interterm session moved to May when travel-based classes can take advantage of warmer weather. Also, a May interterm could alleviate problems the new graduation ceremony policy places on some seniors who are a few units short of graduating and unable to walk.
“At the end of the year, students will know more of what they need,” he said.
The taskforce includes two faculty representatives from each college along with faculty senate representatives and others with day-to-day experience with the academic calendars.
Bailey Porter can be reached at porterb@ulv.edu.