Task force to examine class scheduling

If a new task force has its way, undergraduates may find it more difficult to schedule four-day weekends into their schedules.

Prompted by concerns that students are avoiding early morning and Friday classes and the resulting concentration of classes at more desirable times, Provost Peter Lange this week finalized a task force that will consider class length and distribution throughout the day and week.

The committee will balance several concerns, including the need for flexible faculty and student options, efficient facility use and the University's goals for the student educational experience. "We're dealing with some basic and big questions about the basis of teaching and learning and the undergraduate experience at Duke," said Judith Ruderman, vice provost for academics and administration.

The 13-member task force, which will likely meet at least once each month beginning in October, will make its recommendations--possibly even maintaining the status quo--in February, said Edna Andrews, chair of the task force and chair of the Department of Slavic Languages and Literature. Lange will consider the report, but any changes would not be made until at least spring 2004.

The University has not comprehensively reviewed its scheduling in 30 years. Last spring, the separate University Scheduling Committee proposed adding two more 75-minute Monday-Wednesday slots in order to alleviate demand for Tuesday-Thursday classes.

"The discussion that it evoked led us to see this is a hot button issue--there were a lot of people who saw this as a further demolition of Friday classes," said Ruderman, who also chairs the Scheduling Committee. "When the provost saw the reaction to this seemingly innocuous request, he decided this was the time to review [class distribution]."

Currently, the least-popular class times are at 8 a.m. and 9:10 a.m. Many more students prefer classes scheduled midday on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

"When there are classes at 8 a.m., students don't sign up," University Registrar Bruce Cunningham said. "People don't necessarily want to teach then and students don't want to take classes then."

Student preference also plays a large role in determining distribution. Some administrators have expressed concern that students avoid early, Monday morning and Friday classes to maximize long weekends and partying, and that the current schedule tacitly endorses such behavior. "Students make it very clear that the reason for [their choices] is to protect their time for the late-night social scene," Wasiolek said. "If it resulted in healthy, safe, responsible behavior, I wouldn't be concerned about it, but at least some students engage in late-night risky behavior with alcohol."

Lange added that the current schedule may also limit student selection. "We're not providing students with as much choice as they could have because there's way too many courses in the same time slot," he said.

Past scheduling changes have met with varying success. About five years ago, the University scheduled the mandatory freshman writing course at 8 a.m. to ensure students took classes in that time slot. In the 1960s, the University also offered Saturday classes. Although the task force will discuss those options, Wasiolek said she hopes the task force would not recommend either.

The task force will also consider scheduling policies at other schools--including those at Duke. The Fuqua School of Business, for example, does not hold class on Wednesdays in order for students and faculty to hold meetings and events without class conflicts.

Committee members will come from Trinity College, the Pratt School of Engineering and the Graduate School, and coordination among the three will also be a consideration, as will implications for inter-institutional programs.

"The graduate classes have the lowest priority and they often can't find any place they can meet," Dean of the Graduate School Lewis Siegel said.