As part of the University Strategic Plan Initiative, Activity Hour will be changed from the familiar Tuesdays and Thursdays 1:40 p.m.-2:40 p.m. time slot to the new time of 3 p.m.-4p.m. in fall 2010.
“One of the goals of the strategic plan initiative is to enable students to graduate sooner,” Provost Lawrence Frank said in defense of this change. By changing Activity Hour, according to Frank, they can open more course sections. He said that there is more of a demand for classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays, despite there being fewer classes available.
The reason for Activity Hour being moved to 3 p.m., said Frank, is that there is less of a demand for classes at that time. He explained that all the classroom spaces are filled up for other times, so there is no way they could add more course sections to the preexisting times.
Frank also claimed that most of the general education courses fill up quickly, making students have to wait additional semesters to take certain courses.
Many students who attend club and organization meetings during Activity Hour, however, feel that the change will affect their participation in student life.
“The sudden shift in Activity Hour will make me and other students like myself have to choose between personal obligations such as work and family and a more active campus life,” said Onix Orellano, president of the Anime Club.
Frank said that students would get enough advance notice of this change to shift their schedule.
“Basically, it just sucks because I have to modify my work schedule based on a decision I did not participate in,” said NEIU student Monika Klokocki when she was informed of the change.
Even though this change was brought to the SGA last semester, Provost Frank wanted to make it clear that the SGA does not have the ability to alter this change, since it was an executive decision. However, the majority of students have never heard of this change.
Frank said that the rest of the student body would be officially notified of this change with ample time to adjust their schedules accordingly. He foresees students taking about a year to adjust to this change. After that, he assured, the student body as a whole should adjust well.