At a recent faculty meeting, the subject of night courses and how they interfere with student life was raised by Professor of Physical Education Karen Smith.
Smith, as well as various other professors, believes that an abundance of night courses prevents students from achieving the full effect of a liberal arts college, since the courses' scheduling limits students' participation in clubs and sports.
"Night courses prevent students from participating in activities," she said. "There isn't enough time allowed for students to do other things that are important to their education."
"I am on the executive board for the student government association and because of a 7 - 9:30 [p.m.] class on Tuesdays, I can never make a meeting," said Gia Grier.
According to Smith, these courses cause major scheduling problems in the athletic, music, and drama departments, since rehearsals take place at night due to classes in the day.
Also, some courses interfere with dinner hours, preventing students from eating at the dining hall since some classes run from 5 - 7 p.m.
According to Smith, one of the reasons for this increase in night courses is the increase in part-time professors, who, due to other day jobs, can only teach at college at night.
In the case of the science department, many labs are held after 7 p.m.
due to the large amount of students that are required to take courses such as General Biology and General Chemistry. Because there are only a small number of labs available for a large number of students, labs are forced to meet well into the evening.According to Smith, the number of night courses could be significantly decreased if more full-time professors were hired. By hiring more full-time professors, the college could avoid being forced to schedule in night courses that could normally take place during the day,
"[WC] needs to invest in a residential faculty who can devote more time at [the college] and to the students," Smith stated.
Despite the popular opinion that night courses are a problem for many students, some found night classes to be even more convenient than day courses.
"It gives you great flexibility in your schedule," stated student Christine Garrett. "It gives you a chance to catch up on sleep and run errands. It [also] gives you a chance to get your work done during the day so that you have your nights free after class which is a plus for activities, working out at the gym, etc."
"There are two organizations I wanted to become involved in, and I am never able to go to the meetings because they are always on the nights that I have a class," commented freshman Tori Eaton. "[However,] I can't skip a class or leave early just because I want to go to a club meeting:school comes first."
Eaton wasn't the only one who had this view.
"My CNW is a night course," commented Cynthia Stowell. "Yes, it interferes with activities. But I didn't come here to join clubs; I came here to do school work."
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