This fall Mercer shifted the standard fall and spring semester length from 15 to 14 weeks, lengthening class periods by five minutes to make up the difference in instructional hours.
While a survey of 30 students found that 60 percent see the change as positive, it faced some controversy in coming about.
Some faculty members say they struggled to get their class content to fit in the new schedule.
Communications Professor Alvyn Haywood, who teaches public speaking, told The VOICE he did not have any difficulty accommodating the change, whereas Nursing Professor Lisa Dunn says it was very challenging to create a curriculum that allows students to fully understand key concepts within nursing in a 14 week span.
Professor Dunn also raised concern about how the faculty were notified the shift was coming. She said, “Give me some respect….Give us the opportunity to feel like we were part of the decision!”
Faculty were notified of the potential change at a Faculty Council on Teaching and Learning (FCTL) meeting in October of 2016 by then Assistant Vice President of Academic Affairs Sue Zambrio. Dr. Edward Carmien, a faculty union representative and English professor who was in attendance, said, according to meeting minutes, “Given the nature of the changes proposed, the question of calendar approval should be taken up with the faculty union.”
But before the issue was taken up with the union, the then Vice President of Academic Affairs, Dr. David Edwards, who is now at Camden County College, sent out a notification email on behalf of the administration telling faculty that the President’s Leadership Team had “endorsed the option going forward…to adopt the 14-week Academic Calendar.”
A number of interactions between the union and the administration followed, with surveys of faculty being sent out on both sides before a formal agreement was reached last February accepting the change of calendar.
There were a variety of reasons for making the change, according to administrators.
College president Dr. Jianping Wang told The VOICE that increasing enrollment was a factor in the switch. Starting after Labor Day gives students more time to process their financial aid. The change to a 14 week schedule puts Mercer’s calendar in line with other local colleges in the area such as Rider, Rutgers and Middlesex which also start after Labor Day. In the past if students’ financial aid was slow to process, they sometimes couldn’t start on time and so enrolled at schools with a later start date.
“Why should we give our students to other community colleges? They’re our students!” Dr. Wang said.
Jim Gardner, Director of Public Relations said the change was also focused on the benefit of two groups of students, those who worked summer jobs which didn’t end until Labor Day and those with children who were out of school until after Labor Day.
In reaction to the change, Liberal Arts student, Gloria Hammond told the VOICE “I was able to spend more time caring for my nephew and helping my family.”
Felipi Alves, a 22-year-old international student at Mercer, who said “Yeah, it actually helped me out a lot because I went back to my country to visit my family.”
In a VOICE survey of 30 students, 33 percent held a neutral opinion of the change. Students starting as freshmen may not have noticed the change at all.
The concept of changing to a 14-week schedule is something that has been raised for years according to multiple administrators. Now that it is complete, the community seems to have adapted.
Student Robert O’Keefe, a Nursing Major, says, “Even though it will be more work in those [14] weeks, I think in the end it will be very good.”
According to Professor Dunn, “Having one less week is a challenge. We definitely can do it, but it’s a challenge.”
