Faculty Council approves changes to MU in the Evening

The council also discussed the finals schedule and attendance.

By Audrey Freiberger

Published Feb. 5, 2010

Faculty Council approved changes to MU in the Evening, discussed possible problems concerning the final exam schedule and talked about excessive student absences at its meeting Thursday.

The council approved the resolution to discontinue the MU in the Evening program as a separate degree-granting program and integrate it into the university's regular academic program. MU in the Evening allowed students and faculty to take classes in the evening. The change to integrate the program was among the recommendations of the MU in the Evening Program Committee, whose chairman is Wilson Watt.

"Wilson's committee was looking at ways of increasing revenues and opportunities," Faculty Council Chairwoman Leona Rubin said.

The committee examined MU in the Evening and made recommendations to improve the accessibility and use of the program as well as increase revenues to the university from the program, according to the committee's final report.

The report found faculty and administrators might see MU in the Evening as competitive with their own department or with other specialized groups offering ways for non-traditional students and other customers to obtain university credits.

"By moving that entity into the bulk of the university, into the provost's office, we now have one program that covers day and night, not a distinct program," Rubin said. "The object is to remove the distinction."

The council also discussed potential problems due to changes in the exam schedule. The schedule places Reading Day on Thursday and the first day of finals the next day.

"Finals week and the last week of the semester are one day in the same week," Executive Committee member Joe Parcell said. "That could be some test overload for students."

The committee is working to look at the issue from the perspectives of both students and faculty, Parcell said. The council sought feedback from students before making a decision.

The council members also voiced concerns about when exams are given.

"We need to emphasize not holding exams outside of exam week," said Parcell. "We're trying to find out how prevalent that is."

The issue of excessive student absences at the beginning of the semester was also discussed.

"A lot of students will sign up for many classes because they want to be sure they get something and then never bother dropping them," Executive Committee member Stephen Sayers said.

A potential fix the council discussed was creating an alert, so if students did not log into myZou or Blackboard in the first two weeks or so, the professor could notify the student to drop the course.

"The Registrar is working on a software program that will interface either with myZou or Blackboard that will allow this to be easy and seamless," Rubin said. "They view it as a possibly a mechanism for retention."