The chancellor said more 8 a.m. and Friday classes could be in the university’s future. The university is looking for solutions to use classroom space more efficiently after receiving results from a study conducted by Ad Astra Information Systems that analyzed classroom usage.

Patrick Miller, registrar and director of enrollment management, said efficiency meant two things — putting classes in rooms that more closely fit the class size and using the blocking of classrooms more effectively.

He said blocking could mean not letting a classroom sit empty on Friday when it is used Monday and Wednesday.

Ad Astra, a company that provides the registrar’s office with scheduling software, analyzed classroom usage to determine whether the university needed more or fewer classrooms.

If the university expands class offerings throughout the day, stops concentrating on putting classes in prime times and fits classes into the current classroom space, it would have enough classroom space to support its educational mission, Miller said.

It is too early to know what types of things would be recommended, and a task force would be put together to address the issues, Miller said.

Miller said he thought there may soon be more classes, an increase in some of the classes that run out of spots, as well as additional faculty to be able to accomplish that.

Chancellor Victor Boschini mentioned the study and classroom utilization at the town hall meeting last week.

The university has built 16 buildings in the past four years, and their space could be utilized better, Boschini said.

He said the study showed that some rooms could be used three times more efficiently and discussed more 8 a.m. and Friday classes as a possible solution.

“Students at campuses all across America no longer feel they have to take classes at those two times,” Boschini said.

Rachel Rudd, a sophomore broadcast journalism major, said she did not mind Friday classes because she had Saturday and Sunday for the weekend.

She said she took Spanish as a Monday, Wednesday and Friday class and may have had a different opinion of Friday classes if her class was difficult.

Rudd said she preferred to take 9 a.m. classes over 8 a.m. classes because the extra hour of sleep made a difference. She would have to balance her energy between staying awake and focusing on the material if she woke up at 8 a.m.

Matt Chumchal, assistant professor of biology, said attendance and level of engagement between his 8 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. class were the same.

Boschini said he expected positive reactions to the changes occurring on campus from the decisions made by the board regarding TCU Vision in Action.

“Just like when we built the Campus Commons, people complained about having to live through that a little bit, but they were excited about what was going to happen,” he said.
Boschini is meeting with groups across campus to present decisions made by the board of trustees and to listen to groups’ input, he said.

Leo Munson, associate provost of academic support, said the study was a tactical response to a strategic process that corresponds with TCU Vision in Action, the ongoing planning process for the university to realize its vision.

Munson said it was the university’s goal to ensure every student who wanted to graduate was able to in four years. Class scheduling factors into this goal, he said.

The university uses Tuesday and Thursday classrooms efficiently and Monday and Wednesdays a little less, and there is a significant drop in classroom utilization on Friday, he said.

Munson said he thought changing Friday back to more of an academic day would be the biggest challenge if that was a route the university chose to take.

Changes would not be made this fall, and a changed schedule has not been created, Munson said.