University will retain M-W-F/T-Th basic class structure; Vice Chancellor Freund to unveil new draft plan by Dec. 1, implement a final plan for January 2005

University will retain M-W-F/T-Th basic class structure; Vice Chancellor Freund to unveil new draft plan by Dec. 1, implement a final plan for January 2005November 17, 2003Kevin Morrowkdmorrow@syr.edu

Chancellor Kenneth A. Shaw has accepted a Nov. 12 University Senate resolution on the scheduling of classes that calls for retention of the Monday-Wednesday-Friday/ Tuesday-Thursday/Monday-Wednesday afternoon day-matching format; the addition of 80-minute time slots on Monday and Wednesday afternoons; and reasonably strict faculty compliance to the new schedule.

Philosophy professor Robert Van Gulick and Student Association president Andrew Thomson proposed the class scheduling design preferred by senators over either strict reinforcement of the current scheduling paradigm or an alternative paradigm proposed by the Senate Committee on Instruction.

Vice Chancellor and Provost Deborah A. Freund will now examine the design and make appropriate adjustments, and will announce by Dec. 1 her preliminary views on how the revised schedule would look and the principles and processes to be used in making scheduling exceptions. The preliminary plan will be posted on the Web-available via a button on the University home page-and members of the University community will be invited to comment via e-mail.

After reviewing the feedback and making any additional adjustments to the preliminary plan, Vice Chancellor Freund will announce the final class scheduling plan by Dec. 16. It will be implemented for the Spring 2005 semester.

Chancellor Shaw communicated his decision on the Senate resolution in a memo to the senators, in which he also expressed his appreciation for the hard work and discourse on the class scheduling problem. “I thank the University Senate, the Senate Committee on Instruction, members of the Vice Chancellor and Provost’s staff, and all those in the University community who participated in the process that led to this decision,” he wrote.