I sent out an email announcing the results of the survey (re: scheduling the 1-hour co-requisite course) and pointed here for further information about the survey results, as well as responses to a handful of the comments.
The decision
As I said in the email, we’ll be scheduling the co-req (ENGL 10) on the first day of each pair (Monday for MW classes, and Tu for TTh classes).
Survey results
Of the 21 who answered:
- 11 (52.4%) saw no difference or had no preference
- 7 (33.3%) preferred the first-day option
- 3 (14.3%) preferred the second-day option
The comments offered solid reasons for both first- and second-day options, so I followed the 7-3 vote for those who had a preference.
In response a few of the comments
I wonder if students might have a preference…
Ideally, we’d have had time to try to find this out, but we learned about the need to schedule the co-req on a single day just last week, and we’re already late with the schedule. (I’m also not sure how to get that kind of question out to students.) We might want to coordinate asking our students during the fall semester — but see the next point.
I think this is a scheduling nightmare for both faculty and students, so either way, it’s not ideal.
and
I’ll be happy when/if we can get the 5-unit 1A in place, and the time can be split across both meetings.
Yes, it is a scheduling nightmare, and yes, I really hope we can get a 5-unit 1A to articulate this year, so that this mess ends up being temporary (two semesters, at most). This is in progress, but it takes time.
I’m mainly curious how this will affect part-time scheduling, and if part-timers will have to stay on campus longer with breaks, which might affect their availability. If we are required to have office hours on the “longer” day and are teaching 2 sections for 6 hours that day, that puts us on campus for longer than some of us are used to (and with travel time, it might be an issue).
I don’t see any way that this can not affect part-time schedules. In fact, in addition to this new ENGL 1A+10 set up, we’re also increasing the number of ENGL 56 sections, which are also 5-unit courses (just without the staggered scheduling). That will also create challenges. As always, I will do my best to minimize the number of preps and the length of time between courses. But the complexity of the schedule and the requirements of the contract also play into that jigsaw puzzle.
That said, there are two potential benefits here: first, it will be possible to get the 20-unit maximum units per year with only 4 courses, rather than 5. Second, at least in the case of the staggered 1A+10, a part-timer could schedule her office hour on the second day (i.e., Mon 9-12, Wed 9-11 + office hour 11-12).
None of that is to deny (as stated in the previous comment) that this will be a scheduling nightmare. But we’ll do the best we can.
What’s next?
I just received the final class schedule for Fall 2019. Once I’ve worked with faculty who are in cohort programs (EOPS First-Year Experience and Puente), full-time faculty will sign up for their schedules. After that, I’ll put together the part-time faculty schedules.
Of course, in preparation for that last step, I’ll need to gather information from the part-time faculty about availability and preferences, etc. I will send that survey out in a separate email, so that (a) it doesn’t get lost in this disaster of an email, and (b) I have time to consider possible changes to the survey so that I can have the best information possible.
Let me know if you have any questions.