Longer intervals between classes, different class start times and the extermination of printed class schedules distributed throughout campus are changes Tyler Junior College students will face next semester.
These adjustments are all results of the administration’s procedures to improve the campus.
The administration decided to go to a 15-minute break between classes versus the ten minutes between classes because Genecov will be remodeled and undergo major construction next semester.
“All of the lab classes and the science courses are having to move to the temporary buildings and the 15 minutes is to give students five more minutes to get to classes that may be either in the temporary site or for the temporary site to come back to the main campus,” Registrar Andrea Liner said.
The schedule change also means that some classes will be starting as early as 7 a.m. and classes will end at different times every day of the week.
“I think there’s going to be some confusion by the students,” Liner said. “Just to know that we don’t have the typical 8-8:50 anymore- that the timing has changed. So when students are doing schedules they may want to give themselves a little extra time to look at where they are going as far as location is concerned to make sure they are giving themselves enough time between classes. That’s going to be a big change for our campus.”
The temporary science buildings are located past the TJC tennis courts on Devine Street.
“Because they are a couple blocks away, we know that students need more time to get between classes,” Provost Butch Hayes said.
According to Hayes, all of the science classes will be located in the portable buildings, also known as the Apache Woodlands, but only during the Spring 2011 semester.
“This is not permanent,” Hayes said. “It’s a temporary change for this coming semester.”
The packing and moving to the portable buildings will take place during the four-week break between the fall and spring semesters.
“They are actually moving the student tables and we are moving all of the equipment,” Biology lab instructor Paula Bartley said. “We have been given a portable just for storing our equipment and our models and all of that. That way when we move, the labs won’t be exactly the same because we will be in the portable not in a lab. But it should be very very similar to what we have now.”
The temporary buildings will be as similar to the Genecov labs as possible. They will have the same tables that were in the original labs as well as running water and gas connections.
“When we’re out in the portables, well that will be, you know, challenging, but I just look to the future when I’m going to have this nice brand new lab in a year’s time,” Bartley said. “I’m not exactly excited about being out there in the portables, but I’m flexible and I’ll deal with it and everyone will still have a good lab and learn information.”
Along with the schedule changes, TJC will no longer be printing out semester schedules.
“Schedules are done so early in the semester prior because we approve those schedules so early. There are so many changes that take place before classes begin that typically, once we approve that schedule, it’s obsolete,” Liner said. “There’s already something in there that is not correct whether it be an instructor change, a classroom change and even, sometimes, an instructional method change where a class goes from a hybrid to a completely online class and an online class goes to a hybrid class. Because of the constant changes, it’s become obsolete to do a publication of classes and times.”
Students will now have to go online to see the classes available each semester.
“Students will be able to see the schedule in two different ways,” Liner said. “We will have the interactive online schedule that’s available to the general public that’s online. Also students can search for classes in Apache Access when they are doing their add/drop.”
