If there were one thing that most DePauw faculty could agree upon, it would be that the old time bank system needed to be changed. However, some professors aren't too thrilled with what took its place.
"When they started the move [to change the schedule of classes] I was quite interested and supportive," said history professor John Dittmer, "until I saw the schedule. My basic problem with the new time bank system is that they have insisted on keeping the required minutes [of in-class time]."
When formulating the new schedule, some DePauw professors, including Dittmer, wanted to have some of their classes meet three days a week rather than four.
In adding the new time slots, however, the registrar and some faculty wanted to keep the in-class time relatively the same. So, if classes met three days a week rather than four, they would have to be 65-minute classes to make up for the lost time.
This is what led to the odd class start-and-end times, like 9:15 a.m. and 12:20 p.m.
"It's not engraved in stone that classes have to meet for specific amounts of time," said Eleanor Ypma, head of the registrar's office. "It's more out of tradition ... also for students who transfer in and out of DePauw."
While professors gain some better time slots, they have to deal with some awkward scheduling.
"Remembering to go to classes at different times is a hassle, but that doesn't mean the new system isn't going to work," said psychology professor Terri Bonebright. "I'm willing to go along with [the new schedule] because it was the only way we could have moved out of the strict time banks of the past."
In past years, most classes met four days a week, 50 minutes a day. There were also a few classes that met twice a week for two hours a day and classes that met once a week for three hours. Most of the past time banks were condensed primarily in the morning and Ypma said it was causing increasing problems in scheduling.
Then, in December of 1997, faculty passed the new time banks with a vote of 64 to 22. The three-day class option added time banks and allowed professors and students more work time outside of class, according to Ypma.
"With the option to meet my classes two, three, four days a week, it gives me much more of a flexible schedule," said geology professor Jim Mills. Mills is also the chairman of the committee on Management of Academic Operations, which led the process of the time bank changes.
However, political science professor Ralph Raymond said he doesn't think things will go so smoothly.
"While I can hope to assume that professors will use the [extra] time productively," he said, "I can't assume students are going to be using these extra days off wisely."
Dittmer differed in opinion, saying "the number of hours in class doesn't relate to credit." He said that students at DePauw should be expected to do more outside class work, particularly reading, which prepares them to be productive during the next class period.
"Sitting in a classroom and taking notes is not necessarily the best way to learn at a university," he said.
Raymond said he still has other concerns about the new schedule. "What does this say to the students about the faculty's predisposition?" he asked. "We're encouraging the fact at DePauw that the teaching enterprise is less than the research enterprise."
Bonebright and Ypma both said it wasn't surprising that some faculty had concerns over the new schedule.
"If you already know a system, you're going to be reluctant to change," Bonebright said. "I see this as a transition phase. Trying to satisfy everyone [at the faculty meetings] sometimes turns things into a big mess."
"I don't think we can evaluate the effectiveness of this new schedule until we've gone through a year or more," Ypma said. "It may be that we ask students to do more outside work and then we can adjust the classes to fit the hour."
Classes starting and ending on the hour aren't the only timing problems with the new time banks. For example, some classes are scheduled to meet at 10:15 am on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, but on Thursday the same classes are expected to meet at 8 a.m. Some professors have just cancelled their Thursday 8 a.m. class to avoid further frustration.
"I find my students wandering in 15 minutes late and sometimes I'm the one who's late," Raymond said. Although Raymond said he preferred the old schedule, he also said he's not going to rule out that the new schedule will get better.
Mills explained that the time block needed for convocations also contributed to some of the strange meeting times for classes. Overall, he said he thinks the transition went over very well, and added that throughout the year Management of Academic Operations will continue to look for ways to improve the schedule. The new schedule is "tougher to use, " he said, "but once people get used to it and we work out some of the kinks, there shouldn't be much of a problem."
Dittmer said he hopes the University will keep the Monday, Wednesday, Friday time bank options, but that they would meet for 50 minutes a day instead of 65. "I don't want to move back to the old schedule," said Dittmer, but with the new schedule "we're left with the worst of both worlds."