Someone has said that college is one place where we can reduce the product
without reducing the price, and the customer won't care. This has been
epidemic all over the country.
I would be happy with a 16-week semester because ours is now 14. But I
don't remember a time when we had 18. I remember going from 16 to 15 to 14.
As we compare semester lengths, one thing to keep in mind is whether we are
counting total elapsed time, or whether we are counting actual class weeks.
When I say we have a 14-week semester I mean we have 14-weeks of classes.
That means a 1-SH class meets for the equivalent of 14x50 minutes. Our
calculus-based physics class a 5-SH course which is 4 credits for lecture
and 1 credit for lab. So I lecture on text-book material for 14 weeks times
4 lectures per week. That is a reduction from when we had 15-week semesters
and I lectured 15 weeks times 4 lectures per week.
It is my understanding that the Ohio Board of Regents states that a semester
is considered as 15 actual class weeks, but this does not seem to be
binding, especially for non-state schools. It may be binding for state
schools; I am not sure. The state schools I am familiar with do have 15
weeks of classes in a semester or 10 weeks of classes in a quarter.
Anyway, I am curious about the people who mention having 18-week semesters.
Surely you mean elapsed time; and you also count the final-exam week as part
of the semester. Can you possibly mean 18-weeks of classes? Our current
semester is 16 weeks long, but we lose three days at Thanksgiving, two days
for a long-weekend "midterm break", and then we have a week of final exams.
Some administrators say we have a 16-week semester (counting elapsed time).
Some say we have a 15-week semester (not counting holidays, but counting
exams). Most faculty (including me) say we have a 14-week semester
(counting only class weeks).
It seems to me that counting class weeks is the only way to make
comparisons. Since I recently did a study on this (via Internet), and also
because the Ohio Board of Reagents has made a statement, I believe a
standard school year is now considered to be 30 actual class weeks. This
can be broken into three quarters of 10 class weeks or two semesters of 15
class weeks. Holidays and exam days may be necessary, but they don't count.
I am unhappy with my present situation because we recently reduced to 14
class weeks. Students don't seem to mind; it just means they can get their
diploma with less work.
Michael D. Edmiston, Ph.D. Phone/voice-mail: 419-358-3270
Professor of Chemistry & Physics FAX: 419-358-3323
Chairman, Science Department E-Mail edmiston@bluffton.edu
Bluffton College
280 West College Avenue
Bluffton, OH 45817