Wednesday Common Hour time set
The final Common Hour schedule will eliminate classes from 11:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m., beginning the first week of the fall 2012 semester.
In lieu of scheduled classes, students will have the option to attend lectures and other programmed events they otherwise may not be able to participate in, said Marie Squyres, the 2011-12 Arts and Lectures director.
“Now we know we have a block where … (students) aren’t going to have class conflicts,” Squyres said. “The only thing that really could be the downside is that during the Common Hour that happens every week, everyone is going to want to plan something when they know it’s a free period.”
John Mortensen, USU registrar, said he will present the fall 2012 schedule at Monday’s Faculty Senate Executive Committee meeting. The schedule indicates classes beginning at 11:30 a.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays will become Monday and Friday classes. The two classes per week will be in session for one hour and 15 minutes each, similar to Tuesday and Thursday classes.
After Common Hour ends at 12:45 p.m., Wednesday classes will continue, starting at 1 p.m. and ending 50 minutes from their start time, with a 10-minute break between each. This schedule will continue throughout the afternoon until the 4 p.m. class ends at 4:50 p.m.
Classes in session on Wednesdays before Common Hour will begin on the half hour, starting at 7:30 a.m., and carry out the way they presently do until 11:20 a.m.
“Before, it was going to be two days, on Tuesday and Thursday,” Mortensen said. “And part of the discussion was we didn’t want to disadvantage students in any way.”
There were big impacts to students’ schedules with the first plan, Mortensen said, because many classes were pushed back or scheduled earlier. Students’ work schedules may have been thrown off, he said, but the majority of those who called with complaints about Common Hour were those teaching classes.
Mortensen said he feels more at ease about the current plan because it bumps classes back 30 minutes rather than an hour and a half.
“My biggest concern is a lot of time has been put in to make this happen,” Mortensen said. “It has a lot of potential; it just depends on how much people buy into Common Hour and plan to make it happen.”
The brain behind the initial proposal was Jo Olsen, the 2010 ASUSU Arts and Lectures director. He backed the Common Hour proposal, because he noticed the majority of students could not attend speeches and entertainment brought to USU by their student fees, he said.
“Obviously, since the beginning, a lot of things have happened and the timing of it has changed,” Olsen said. “I think people felt like it was an important issue, and that’s why you saw a lot of people for and against it.”
A similar proposal was brought to the table in 1997, which ASUSU Executive Council members titled Open Hour. The proposal, ECR 97-15, passed and the Open Hour was set to occur every Thursday from 12:30-1:30 p.m. Olsen said he is familiar with the proposal, but is unsure why Open Hour did not pan out.
“People said it wasn’t successful,” Olsen said, “and there were a lot of reasons why it didn’t happen or continue, but I didn’t see anything in writing.”
ASUSU Council members will execute a Common Hour campaign this semester, said Erik Mikkelsen, ASUSU student body president. When ASUSU officers for the 2012-13 school year are voted in, the current officers will work with them to utilize the free hour to best benefit students, Squyres said.
“I think it’s just about offering time for things to happen,” Squyres said. “How many times are you in a group-project situation where you don’t know when to meet? It’s a time when you aren’t going to have classes. I don’t think it makes anything more economic, but it helps us reach more students, so it’s better use of programming money.”
Squyres said it will take several meetings with the colleges and departments, as well as larger campus organizations, to make sure too many events don’t overlap.
Though the concentration of students during Common Hour will be high, Alan Andersen, director of USU Dining Services, said he isn’t concerned about the effects the free hour will have on mealtime crowding.
“What I learned over the years, when something like this happens, is it self-levels,” Andersen said. “We’ll get slammed, but people will realize what is going on. We can only feed so many people at a time. People will start making decisions based on how busy it is.”
Danny Hames, a junior majoring in special education, said she has mixed feelings about Common Hour. She said she is excited to see more people able to attend the Religion in Life speakers hosted by the Latter-day Saint Student Association, but said even though Common Hour will be in place, many students like herself won’t be able to attend the Common Hour events, because they are in the middle of the day.
“For practicum, I go to an elementary school (to) observe Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., so that would be inconvenient to come back to USU,” Hames said.
Mortensen said students with questions about Common Hour should seek answers from ASUSU officers and Student Services to receive the best information.
—catherine.meidell@aggiemail.usu.edu