Students make college campus no place to be on a Friday

By Charlotte Hsu

Saturday, Dec. 8, 2007 | 7:25 a.m.

It's a Friday afternoon at UNLV, and it's quiet. So quiet you might think it's Saturday or Sunday.

Some students walk to class. Others study in the library or share a smoke outside. But the campus that bustles the rest of the week has, on Fridays, a lazy feel.

At colleges and universities nationwide, activity plummets on Fridays. Schools hold fewer classes. Students sleep in. The heat's on, but the rooms are empty.

Low-key Fridays present an uncomfortable situation for Southern Nevada's three public higher education institutions.

The College of Southern Nevada, Nevada State College and UNLV have been clamoring for new facilities for years. So, as the state and institutions face a budget crunch, why not make better use of existing space?

CSN's classroom use Monday through Thursday is six times as efficient as it is on Friday, according to the latest figures the Nevada System of Higher Education could provide. Nevada State College's and UNLV's classroom use Monday through Thursday is three times as efficient as it is on Friday.

At all three institutions, Friday usage rates fall far below the system's standard.

Though the data are old, from 2005, officials acknowledge Fridays are still light. New reports will be presented to regents next spring.

"Government generally gets less done on Friday as a result of the inherent lack of accountability when spending other people's money," state Sen. Bob Beers said in an e-mail. "The university is no different."

But even in 2005, average weekly classroom use at CSN and UNLV neared or exceeded system expectations.

And the need for more space is real, officials say.

Much of Nevada State College, including its nursing program, is housed in a Henderson strip mall.

At UNLV, a series of modular buildings that resemble large shoeboxes near the library serves as temporary housing for departments such as philosophy and journalism and media studies. Buildings scheduled to open in 2008 will include well-equipped studios and laboratories the campus needs badly, said Gerry Bomotti, senior vice president for finance and business at UNLV.

Regents Chairman Michael Wixom noted that to improve space usage, schools would need to hire faculty members to teach more classes. Unlikely at the moment, with higher education facing a potential 8 percent budget reduction that could lead to layoffs and other cuts.

Administrators say Fridays are slow because students don't sign up for classes that meet then - a problem that frustrates administrators across the country, said Dan King, executive director of the American Association of University Administrators.

He and other old-time academics remember when students expected to spend Fridays and even Saturdays behind a desk. But Thursday now marks the end of the week for many on campus, and no single reason seems to explain how that happened, he said.

Professors take advantage of the Friday lull to hold meetings or to conduct research alongside students.

Still, King said, "it's a waste of a resource." "We've got all these buildings and we've got all these classrooms and they're clearly underutilized on Fridays, he said."

UNLV used to hold classes that met three times a week - on Monday, Wednesday and Friday - or twice a week - on Tuesday and Thursday. But teachers complained about high absentee rates on Friday, and demand for classrooms rocketed on Tuesday and Thursday.

The university changed its policy about three years ago, scheduling courses for Monday and Wednesday or Tuesday and Thursday.

Though professors can still request three-day-a-week classes, Fridays are now largely the province of unpopular three-hour block courses. Classroom use Monday through Thursday has evened out.

"For those students who work Friday, Saturday, Sunday, as you do in the entertainment industry here, (the new schedule) lets them do it," said Dawn Neuman, vice provost for academic resources at UNLV.

At CSN, too, Friday demand is low. Darren Divine, associate vice president for academic affairs, said the college should not "hold the students hostage" by scheduling inconvenient classes.

Student body President Taylor Gray shares that view. His peers use Fridays to work, care for their families and run errands, he said.

"Fridays used to be good for people and now they're not. And if the class sizes are dwindling and less and less people are doing Friday, then Friday obviously wasn't the correct day."

To the theory that work forces students to shun Friday classes, Regent Steve Sisolak responds, "Ha. That's a joke. Students work Monday through Friday. We live in Las Vegas. Seven days a week, 24 hours a day, people are working."

Sisolak believes schools should not only use space better on Fridays, but on Saturdays as well. Using classrooms better on slow days could help relieve stress on facilities at other times of the week.

"Some of the classes that are filled up right now, if you offered another (section) on Friday, I'd guarantee you they'd take those classes," Sisolak said.

But would they?

Megan Hunt-Higgins, a senior studying marketing, said she would take a Friday class that is taught by a good teacher or is required.

But to many of her peers, she said, a three-day weekend is too delicious to pass up. Young people who graduate from high school and come to UNLV think, "A four-day week? That sounds awesome," she said.

Friday is the new Saturday, said Brett Butler and Mike Silva, senators in UNLV's undergraduate student government. The two work Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays as indoor skydiving instructors.

"I would never sign up for a class on Friday - even if I didn't have to work," Silva said. He added that many students prefer cramming all their classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays, freeing up a four-day weekend for work or travel.

Faculty members are on campus Friday even if many students aren't, UNLV Faculty Senate Chairman Bryan Spangelo said.

He said professors might be reluctant to teach three-hour courses because "you're going to lose the attention of students." But if the university found a practical way to incorporate shorter Friday classes into the schedule, faculty members wouldn't object, he said.

Nevada State College is exploring holding twice-a-week classes that would take place on Mondays and Fridays or Wednesdays and Fridays.

"What the college is looking at right now," school spokesman Spencer Stewart said, "is a way to incentivize students to take courses over the weekend."

Reduced fees for Friday and Saturday courses could be an enticement, he said.

But if administrators are serious about taking Friday back, they could find themselves up against a new student culture.

Adriel Espinoza, student body president at UNLV, said although many students work, some may simply be reluctant to attend Friday classes because none of their peers do. On Thursday night, the Friday student, with regret, thinks, "I have class in the morning. I can't go out," he said.

But a five-day school week - if UNLV could find a way to make it work - could help students stay focused academically, he said. And with football games on Saturdays, Fridays would be the perfect day to boost school spirit, he added.

UNLV President David Ashley said as more of UNLV tries to increase the percentage of its population that goes to school full time, scheduling more Friday classes is an option.

"It's something that we should look at, but we don't want to disadvantage students who have taken advantage of this (current) schedule to support themselves financially."