FROM:
This reminder is being sent early to facilitate planning for the XXXXXXX
semester. The All-University Open House is scheduled for XXXXXX. I am writing
to inform you that we will again cancel classes on Friday afternoon prior to
the All-University Open House. Classes will be canceled starting at 1:30 p.m.
on Friday, XXXXXX. If instances arise where rescheduling in specialized
classroom or laboratory environments is not feasible, then instructor
prerogative will determine whether classes will be canceled; this determination
should be clearly noted on the course syllabus handed out at the beginning of
the semester so that students are aware of it far in advance of Open House.
Faculty are encouraged to reschedule classes and laboratories that will be
canceled on the afternoon of XXXXXX. Thank you for your support of this
recruitment activity and community event.
TO:
This reminder is being sent early to facilitate planning for the XXXXXX
semester. The All-University Open House is scheduled for XXXXXX. I am writing
to inform you that we will again cancel classes on Friday afternoon prior to
Open House. Classes will be canceled starting at 2:30 p.m. on Friday, XXXXXX.
If instances arise where rescheduling in specialized classroom or laboratory
environments is not feasible or canceling sections of a multi-section course
would result in the loss of an entire class day, then instructor prerogative
will determine whether classes will be canceled. In these cases, faculty
members choosing to hold classes at or after 2:30 PM must notify Room
Scheduling by the start of the Spring Semester to ensure that their classrooms
will be available. This determination should be clearly noted on the course
syllabus handed out at the beginning of the semester so that students are aware
of it far in advance of Open House. Thank you for your support of this
recruitment activity and community event.
RATIONALE:
The request for this change to the policy arose out of two concerns. First,
the Standard Class Time Policy will shift some of the two-hour laboratories
that meet once a week to a 12:30 PM - 2:30 PM time slot. Dismissal at 1:30 PM
falls in the middle of that time slot. Second, faculty who teach sections of
a multiple section class have expressed frustration with losing an entire class
day because of the policy and questioned whether students actually participated
in Open House preparations during the time they were released. An analysis of
the classes for Spring 2003 revealed that the current policy (classes released
at 1:30 PM) affected a total of 299 courses/course sections involving 9403
students. Of these, 124 sections are part of multiple section courses. Moving
the dismissal time to 2:30 PM decreases the number of sections involved to 125
and involves 4932 students. That still leaves 57 sections of multiple-section
courses affected, involving 2249 students directly. If faculty who teach
multiple-section courses feel that they must dismiss the entire day of classes
to accommodate the loss of a day for those sections meeting after 2:30 PM, then
even more students are involved. Conservative estimates suggest that canceling
an entire class day to accommodate Open House would affect approximately 10,000
students. Data gathered by Dr. Bosco's office suggest that approximately
1500-2000 students are involved in Open House.
Members of the Faculty Senate Academic Affairs Committee expressed strong support of Open House and the learning opportunities made available to the students. However, the data suggests that far more students are affected by the policy than actually participate in Open House. Moving the dismissal time to 2:30 PM reduces the number of students affected significantly. Giving faculty who teach multiple-section courses the option to hold class rather than lose an entire class day of instruction seems justified.