Proposal to Change Spring 2015 Course Scheduling Regulations Revoked
By Nicole Brown
Controversy erupted Monday among faculty about major possible changes in the spring 2015 student course schedule, but cooled the following day after the order was revoked.
The issue surfaced when Joy Moskovitz, Assistant Vice President of Academic Affairs, sent an email informing school and department heads of three revisions to the course schedule for the upcoming spring semester.
The email announced that Kean would no longer offer Tuesday/Thursday courses from 8 a.m. – 2 p.m. Instead, those course times would be replaced with a Wednesday/Friday schedule.
Additionally, no 3000 or 4000 level courses would be offered at 11 a.m. or 12:30 p.m. from Monday- Friday and only graduate courses would be scheduled during the 4:30 double periods from Monday- Thursday. Undergraduate courses would be available during the 7:30 p.m. double periods from Monday- Thursday.
The Kean Federation of Teachers, the union representing full-time faculty and professional staff, and the Faculty Senate, the governing body for academics, both held emergency discussions on Sept. 30 as a result of the email.
Faculty said the changes would be detrimental to students. Dr. Sonja Kim, an Early Childhood professor, said the changes would have a negative effect on student teachers.
“This would be a disaster for student teachers,” said Kim. “They have to work full-time in the day and then go home late at night to prepare for classes the next morning.”
Dr. Richard Katz noted that students would have to go home in-between the gaps in their course schedules, causing an inconvenience that would waste gas.
“Students following a four year plan would be affected and the graduation rate would be impacted,” said Katz.
However, Moscovitz sent a second email Tuesday afternoon to Kean’s deans and directors, informing them that the proposed changes would not happen and that the college’s existing course schedule would remain the same.
“As always, we will continue to engage with the campus community to determine the scheduling options that best meet the needs of our students and their academic goals,” said Moscovitz.
Jeffrey Toney, Vice President of Academic Affairs, said that feedback from the campus community was reviewed and will be considered in the event of any future course scheduling.
David Joiner, Chairperson of the Faculty Senate, said that although the administration has revoked the course scheduling changes for spring semester, the Scheduling Task Force will still intervene in the matter.
“Work still exists to ensure that the needs of students are met in the process scheduling,” said Joiner.
No one knows why the scheduling announcements were made; however, the first email sent stated that the college needed to evenly distribute its course offerings over the week. Faculty proposed that the changes were related to the parking situation.
A more detailed report on this situation will appear in The Tower’s newspaper as the story develops.