The facts about the four-day week
Written by Ashley Young, News Editor | 
Would you like to have Wednesdays off?
How about Fridays? That is the proposal the scheduling and planning committee has recently discussed. This would be part of a proposed four-day-per week schedule.
While the four-day-schedule proposal has only been in circulation for a few weeks, students and faculty are contemplating the change.
The four-day-week would take away either Wednesday or Friday classes and would extend all classes to one hour and 15 minutes. Faculty would more than likely be required to have office hours on the day off.
“I could certainly use the extra time to my benefit and longer classes would allow for continuity in class exercises,” said Rodney Machokoto, a senior accounting major. “I would personally recommend having Wednesday instead of Friday off because a longer weekend
would go to waste.”
The scheduling and planning committee is responsible for planning class schedules for the upcoming year. About a month ago, the SGA President, Thomas Hutton, went to a committee meeting where the idea for a four-day-week was proposed. As a student representative,
Hutton brought the idea to SGA.
The student body was informed through e-mails to students’ Methodist e-mail accounts and
through a survey on the SGA Blackboard site. The survey will be available until the end of this semester.
According to Taron Stubbs, SGA senator and Head of Public Relations, the number of days in the fall and spring semesters will remain the same and night classes will not be affected. Stubbs said that depending on the professor, there may be more work during the classes, but midterms and finals would not be affected.
An anonymous posting in the Blackboard discussion section pointed out that even though the same number of classes would be offered, there would be more schedule conflicts. There are only six class times available for Tuesday and Thursday classes, as opposed to the eight class times in the Monday, Wednesday, Friday schedule. Students on Blackboard were concerned that too many schedule conflicts would mean not being able to graduate on time.
The benefits of a four-dayweek for students include an extra day to get assignments done, an opportunity to catch up on other academic work, and a day to rest. For faculty, it would give them a chance to get caught up with their work and do more with planning for classes. Also a four-day week would allow the Student Activities Committee (SAC) and other campus groups a day to host events.
“I think if it is on a Wednesday that it will allow more students the flexibility to participate in the services without being pressured for time in between classes,” said Donna Wilson, Director of Campus Ministry Events and Administrative Services. “I think this day off will be a time that the students can use to study and participate in more community services activities.”
A four-day-week would also allow for classes and clubs to have field trips on the day off.
Other positive effects are environmental. The university would save electricity by cutting the power off in classroom buildings for the day. On the Blackboard discussion site, Mackenzie Eckard, SGA secretary, said the that four day schedule was proposed as a “go green project” by a faculty member who is part of the calendar committee.
“The school can save a substantial amount of money and energy a year by simply shutting down power to one of the buildings for one day a week,” said Eckard on Blackboard.
SGA’s goal of announcing a four-day-week to students through e-mail was to get them excited about a different schedule, get their input and feelings, and make sure events on campus do not interfere with the day off. “We hope to get everybody involved, we would love to get them all involved, and any club or organization is welcome to submit their input,” said Stubbs.
Places like The Writing Center, Davis Memorial Library, the computer labs in Trustees and the Math Building, the bookstore, Career Services, the Lion’s Den, and the Green and Gold Cafe would remain open to students on the day off.
Not all students are excited about this change. Some posters on the Blackboard site say that the current hour and 15 minute classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays are hard to concentrate in. Some students do not catch all of the material being taught. Classes extended by 25 minutes actually have the potential to teach less.
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