By Luis Zavala
College Hour is the killer of clubs and the bane of classes.
A well-intentioned idea to turn over the time from 11:45 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. to the ASO and clubs has not worked out and needs to be changed.
A few years ago Southwestern College condensed its schedule from 18 weeks to 16 weeks and needed to change start and finish times for classes. Former President Kindred Murillo got talked into an idea by the former ASO leadership that was to clear the deck of all classes at midday on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
That was a good-hearted bad idea from the start. The most popular time for classes at SC are the hours between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. Many students work in the afternoon and need to leave by noon or 1:30 p.m. Morning classes, research shows, are also the best time for students to focus and learn.
Most of the T-TH classes start times were switched from noon to 1:30 p.m. Theoretically the ASO and clubs were supposed to have “college hour” from noon – 1:15 p.m. on T-TH for meetings and activities. By clearing out all classes Murillo and the students of the ASO thought they would see an increase in students participating in student government, clubs and campus activities.
The move backfired.
Dozens of classes, for a variety of reasons, could not abandon the midday and moved to the 11:45 a.m. – 1:10 p.m. slot. Others moved there later when students complained that they could not take classes that kept them on campus until after 3 p.m. New classes were also moved into that slot.
So now almost no one is happy.
ASO activities are conducted during a time when about half the students cannot participate because they are in class. Some students sit around for more than an hour and a half waiting for the 1:30 p.m. classes to start. Other students take fewer units and stay at Southwestern a year or more longer because they need to work in the afternoon.
What are the options? Moving College Hour to 8 a.m. would avoid prime time for classes, but would also avoid students. Students who use public transportation (and there are a lot of us) may find it difficult and exhausting to slog to school early for a club or ASO meeting.
The best option is to move College Hour to 1:30 p.m. on T-TH and resume teaching classes during the 11:45 a.m. – 1:10 p.m. slot. That way students would be able to take a full 15-unit load if they wanted to and still be able to devote the early afternoon to club and ASO activities.
Student government and clubs are important and deserve the full support of our college leaders. These clubs can be social or academic-based and enriching for students. ASO and clubs develop leadership skills, create networks, encourage socialization and help students build a connection to the college. Research consistently shows that students who feel connected to their schools do better and are happier.
Southwestern has a rich array of clubs like the Arts Club, Environmental Biology Club, Pagkakaisa and many others that nourish students academically, socially and spiritually. Clubs are well-resourced and have energetic, idealistic faculty advising them. Our ASO is well-funded and has the authority to make meaningful decisions about student life.
We need to do a better job or aligning our schedule and system of classes to allow more students to participate. College Hour a little later in the day would end the confusion and stop the slow motion collision between clubs and classes that no one wants to see. Focusing on academics in the morning and letting your hair down a little in the afternoon makes more sense than the current system which serves no one. A 1:30 p.m. college hour would increase enrollment in morning classes and increase participation in student government and club activities.
Timing is everything and the time to act is now, during the summer. Let’s reorganize our schedule into a less-chaotic, more logical system that ends of conflicts and difficult choices between classes and clubs. We ought to be about to do both.