Athletes want morning classes

The Student Athletic Advisory Committee (SAAC) presented a proposal to SGA last week requesting more morning classes to be scheduled in the future to accommodate athletes with afternoon practices and games.

"We feel that it will be beneficial for the whole student body because the current class schedule compromises academic success," said senior Kendra Martin, president of SAAC.

The proposal suggests that all students would benefit from the schedule shift. The primary recommendation is that "classes end by 2:30 p.m. in the afternoon to accommodate for practices, student activities, clubs, jobs, internships, or volunteer work and good nutrition before starting classes at 7 p.m." The proposal recognizes that more classes would need to be scheduled earlier in the day, particularly in the first- and second- period time slots, to accommodate this change.

Bryce Bergey and Kevin Docherty, SGA co-presidents, supported the initiative. "We think that it was very well received by SGA as a whole, and definitely feel that this is an issue that needs some attention."

The majority of the SGA senators present at the meeting last Thursday signed a petition in favor of the new proposal.

Martin and SAAC are currently gathering student signatures in support of the proposal. They also continue to seek student input on the proposed changes. "We're seeing what the actual student interest is. For it to be taken seriously by the administration, the students have to be serious about it too," said Martin. "This whole proposal is for the student body; this is not specifically a student athlete thing."

The needs of student athletes are at the forefront of the current schedule shift. "The student athletes are crying out that this is a huge problem," said Martin. "What we ran into with soccer season [in the fall] was the colloquium running until 5 p.m. The classes that are required need to be taken earlier because students can't avoid taking them." In these cases athletes either miss classes or miss cafeteria dinner hours when practice times are moved later in the evening.

Martin now plans to arrange meetings with Registrar Dave Detrow, the Academic Cabinet and other administration personnel. "We want to begin the process of communication. It's not like this problem has just arisen," Martin said.

Detrow agreed that this is not the first time scheduling changes have been proposed. EMU has been battling this conflict for over 15 years, he said.

Classroom availability would be an issue if more classes were scheduled at the same time, along with the variety of courses that could be offered, Detrow said. He is not sure how the general student body and teachers would react. "Teachers do not always feel like learning is maximized at that time of day."

As registrar, Detrow would be in charge of the final logistics of any changes. He encouraged students to voice their opinions concerning scheduling.

The scheduling for next fall will take place in three weeks.