Ad Hoc Committee on Course Scheduling: 2013–15
September 2014
Members: Alex Hrycak, Carla Mann*, Nora McLaughlin, Nigel Nicholson, Jeff Parker, Karen Perkins, Mike Tamada
Charge: to recommend to the faculty one or more new ways to organize the course schedule. The problems or questions to be addressed include: increased demand for 2 x 80 min classes; the regular conflicts between introductory language and introductory science; the possibility of a regular meeting time during the day for both faculty and the larger Reed community; the possibility of more evening classes or classes in the 4-6 pm slot; the possibility of fewer major faculty committees meeting after 5pm.
The committee should consult the final report of the Strategic Planning Groups F and H.
Noting that “anecdotal evidence has it that it is hard to find a time to meet,” and that it has been claimed that “once there was a time when there was an hour-and-a-half window each day when no one had anything on their schedule, with the possible exception of governance work,” F recommended (p.19), “An hour-and-a-half a week is perhaps a reasonable strategic goal: this would be a window in which no classes and no regular meetings of large groups like the Faculty would be scheduled.”
Proposing that “quality of life enter our conversations, and our decision-making, as a valid and weighty factor of consideration,” H noted that, “last spring, the Administration Committee addressed the class schedule issue by requesting feedback from academic departments. The following topics were raised by many respondents:
- More two-day per week meeting times are needed
- Maintain a template that accommodates four- and five-day per week classes, with better coordination with other departments
- Provide three-hour meeting times earlier in the day
- Reserve time in the week when classes are not scheduled for ad-hoc instruction and meetings to support the governance of the college.
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