If you’re having trouble remembering what time your classes start or end, you are not alone.
“Even the administration is in need of help while they call an hour 61 minutes,” Chris Mello, music instructor, said.
After the college restructured the schedule, some classes have different start times. Rescheduling to the times of classes with labs has left students wondering when their classes start and instructors trying to adjust the lectures to fit the new time format.
“The biggest challenge was two weeks into the semester and having students wonder what time their classes start,” Chris Mello said. “It’s hard for students to get into a rhythm.”
In 2008, the Chancellor’s Office sent out a memo to all 16-week community colleges recommending that the college reformat the amount of time each course spends in class.
The college has a 16-week semester, whereas other colleges are on the traditional 18-week semester.
“We want to have our students get done with class before Christmas,” Tom Lew, dean of Humanities division said.
When the college compressed to a 16-week calendar, it left problems involving the time for classes. Time had to be added to each class due to the Chancellor’s Office’s recommendations.
“When you have an 18-week semester everything comes out even,” Lew said. “When you have a 16-week semester it causes problems.”
In some classes EC had to shift them to a 61-minute hour. Lew believes that this will make things easier for instructors.
This happened with the help of a task force the Chancellor’s Office sent and they created a format in they believed the college could make the scheduling work.
Consistency in scheduling among all community colleges is the main goal the Chancellor’s Office has.
The campus is split when it comes to the changes. The change has even gone unnoticed by some students.
“They changed the format of classes? I had no idea,” Zach Peltier, 20, undecided major, said.
Some students have had trouble adjusting to these new class times.
“I didn’t know the class times were different until I walked into my history class 15 minutes late,” Scott Dayen, 20, business major, said. “I wish my teacher would have told me.”
This is a transition period for both students and faculty. It’s imperative that they work together to make this an easy process.
Instructors are facing challenges themselves with this new scheduling and students need to remember the time of their classes even if they begin at different times.
The beginning of the semester will be an adjusting process for everyone.
“It would behoove every student to give every instructor the benefit of the doubt this semester,” Mello said.
“Be patient, you aren’t losing anything. You’re still going to get the same quality of education,” Mello said. “The standards of EC and the faculty have not changed.”