The University will be offering more Monday-Wednesday-Friday classes starting in the spring semester. The University cites unused facilities and high electricity bills as reasons for the switch.

Besides music, art and a few history classes, most WT classes run on a Monday-Wednesday or Tuesday-Thursday schedule with an hour and 15 minutes allotted for class. However, the added Friday class has been a staple at other universities in the A&M system and around the nation.

The addition of Friday classes will reduce the Monday-Wednesday-Friday class times to 50 minutes, which may be beneficial for students enrolled in difficult classes such as the sciences or math. However, some classes don’t really “get going” until 30 minutes in.

A lot of adjustments will have to be made on the part of students and faculty. Professors will obviously have to readjust lesson plans to accommodate the change, which could be good or bad. Class discussions will have to be cut or dramatically shortened for the interest of saving time. Friday classes will cut into the time that professors would have otherwise used for research or other projects.

Students will have to readjust work schedules to accommodate the Friday classes. Many students work on the weekends and Friday classes not only cut into hours, but also add more study time to students’ already packed schedules. Amarillo commuters will have to make another trip into Canyon and will have to spend more on gas.

Student athletes will have more class time to make up for when they go out of town to compete. Open Fridays meant that athletes could go to practice. Coaches will now have the burden of coordinating schedules around Friday classes.

Because of all of the adjustments, wouldn’t it make more sense to implement Friday classes in the fall? What was the reasoning behind starting mid-school year? It makes more sense to have started this in the fall, when new freshmen and transfers are coming in.

Inevitably, some students will try to avoid Friday classes at all costs by either signing up for more Monday-Wednesday, Tuesday-Thursday classes or skipping altogether. The University should be prepared for low attendance for Friday classes in the beginning.

Eventually, students and faculty will make the adjustment, but at the expense of having time to do the other things required of them.