We’re more than halfway through the fall semester. In five weeks, classes will be over and the hair pulling and nail biting that are associated with finals will ensue. More importantly, students will be frantically trying to rearrange their rosters before the spring semester starts.
Anyone who’s registered for classes via OWLnet knows that creating the right schedule takes longer than ordering a sandwich at the SAC’s ‘On a Roll.’ But lately I’ve found that the scheduling problems are rooted more in the individual departments than in a busy Internet server.
My goal for spring semester was originally to have Fridays off. Three visits and five hours on OWLnet later, I had my roster, and my Fridays off… along with Wednesdays off and only one class Monday, leaving me with five classes in a row on Tuesdays and Thursdays between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.
This hellish routine is not a result of my Friday greediness. As I desperately scrolled through the list of journalism classes, my desire to have Fridays off gave way to my desire to sleep late and take lunch breaks. I began to search for any class that would have me.
However, every class I was interested in was not only scheduled on those two days, but at conflicting times. Turns out Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10:10 to 11:30 a.m. is a popular time for journalism classes. Some classes meet on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, but how is anyone supposed to fit that into the typical MWF/TR schedule? I ended up settling for three journalism classes instead of four or five. As a result, I’ll spend my senior year taking classes I should have already taken.
My friends in other majors, particularly education, have had the same problem. For some reason, the further into your education you get, the harder it is create a balanced schedule. This seems backwards. Rosters should be more accommodating as students get deeper into their majors so the workload can be spread out.
Departments need to find a way to vary class times better so students don’t overextend themselves. Hectic schedules won’t help students learn any better or faster. In the meantime, you’ll find me in Annenberg Hall, stuffing my face between classes and praying that at least one of my classes ends early enough to squeeze in a bathroom break.
