Classes That Start at Midnight

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Space planners have been telling us for years that space utilization would be more efficient if learning spaces were scheduled across a longer learning day. Not to mention that energy efficiency would go up it more buildings were more fully utilized when they are active. This Inside Higher Ed article by David Molz reviews quite a few institutions, with examples of what they're offering to night owls.

Community colleges are leading the surge toward perhaps all day scheduling, especially with workforce development classes that take advantage of people having free time later into the day. The increase in demand for classes that came with the financial crisis and the recession is causing more institutions to more broadly schedule classes, even Psychology or English, after midnight.

Friday-Only Classes? Why?

A brief note from The Greentree Gazette about some campuses which find offering some Friday-only classes to be beneficial:

Coming to campus only one day a week is beneficial for students who can arrange a four-day work week with their own employers. All students can benefit from using less gas and driving time to and from campus. Aiken Technical College began Friday-only classes in 2006 to help students deal with $3/gallon gas prices. When prices spiked higher in summer 2008, Volunteer State and J. Sargeant Reynolds began offering Friday-only classes for the same reason.

Mixing it up is popular

Campuses have learned that Friday-only classes can also be used by students in conjunction with other courses they’re taking. "Some students want to cut their number of trips from five days a week to three," says Nannette Smith, associate vice president of academic affairs at J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College. Alice Frye, dean of allied health at Aiken Technical College, says the motivation to offer some courses only on Friday was to minimize the student time on campus rather than eliminate Monday through Thursday classes altogether.