Kennesaw State Interim Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs Dr. Linda Noble announced in an email to faculty and staff on Wednesday, July 27, that the university plans to make several changes to its course scheduling practices starting in spring 2019.
According to the email, KSU’s six-year graduation rate has fallen behind that of the university’s peer institutions such as Georgia Southern University and Valdosta State University. KSU’s graduation rate is currently 42 percent compared to the other institutions’ rate of 47 percent.
Noble wrote in the email that part of resolving this issue includes changing the university’s course scheduling so that students can register for and complete the courses they need “in a timely manner.”
Noble explained that the university requested a Strategic Scheduling Check-Up study in April 2017, and then-Provost Ken Harmon launched a Class Scheduling Task Force to perform an in-depth analysis of KSU’s practices.
The task force found that the current course scheduling practices have created conflicts for students trying to register for general education courses. They also found that through most of the days during the week, 54 percent of lecture classrooms on both campuses were not being used, and 48 percent of lecture courses were not following the current standard schedule grid.
Noble wrote in the email that, based on these findings, the task force generated several recommendations that they shared with campus constituency groups in fall 2017. After receiving feedback from these groups, they provided updated recommendations that Noble said the university will implement starting in spring 2019.
The task force recommended simplifying the standard scheduling grid, increasing the transition time between classes on a three-day per week schedule from 10 to 15 minutes, requiring general education lecture courses to follow the “Block A and B” standard schedule pattern and creating more options for hybrid and technology-enhanced courses.
The Block A and B schedule patterns mentioned in the recommendations refer to the scheduling grid on the academic affairs’ website. Block A refers to courses that occur before 3:30 pm on an “MWF,” three-day schedule and courses after 3:30 p.m. on a “MW,” two-day schedule. Block B refers to “TR,” two-day courses.
“We believe that the benefits of these changes serve to help our students’ progress to graduation in a timelier manner and will strengthen our space utilization efficiency,” Noble wrote in the email.
