Prompted by a recommendation from student athletes, the Faculty Advisory Committee on Athletics is seeking approval from the faculty to delay evening classes that begin at 7 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., according to economics professor and committee chair Elizabeth Bogan.
Student athletes who have classes in the evening currently have no time to prepare for class or eat dinner, Bogan said, because most practices end at 6:30 p.m. or 6:45 p.m.
"We believe it is a principal of student welfare," Bogan said, adding that NCAA regulations state that schools must commit to fair treatment of student athletes, particularly in their roles as students. Bogan noted that athletes have less time to prepare for evening classes than their peers. "We're not looking for special treatment for athletes," she said. "We're looking for equal treatment."
The postponement of class times, however, will also benefit non-athletes, said Andrea Kilbourne '02, a varsity women's ice hockey player who represents the Varsity Student Athlete Advisory Committee — the group that developed the proposal — on the faculty advisory committee.
"Almost everybody has something to do from 4:30 to 6:30," she said. "It is not meant to be favoring [athletes], but equaling out the playing field if anything."
The student-athlete committee first proposed the class time change in a letter to the faculty advisory committee, writing that evening classes starting at 7 p.m. create "unnecessary pressure on student athletes' eating habits, health, studies and athletic performance."
The letter also suggested that injured athletes who have 7 p.m. classes do not have time to receive treatment after practice and noted that students who cannot eat dinner before a three-hour lab or seminar might be prone to eating disorders.
Hamin Abdullah '00, a football player and president of the student committee, voiced his support for the proposal. "It's something really necessary," he said. "Coach is always open to let you out early, but it is still hard for athletes [to continually miss part of practice]."
Originally, the student athletes requested that classes move to 8 p.m. to provide an hour between practice and class. However, concern that some faculty members might object to the lateness of the class time prompted the faculty and student committees to reach a compromise and propose the 7:30 p.m. slot, Bogan said.
"It's a balancing act," she said. "Is the time too late for faculty? It's a difficult compromise."
According to Abdullah, the faculty received the student athletes' proposal on night classes before the December meeting, but discussion of their proposal was delayed.
"It made the faculty [classrooms and schedules committee], but it was sort of just blown off and hasn't been given the attention it needs," Abdullah said.
In order to be enacted, the class time proposal must be endorsed by the Faculty Committee on Classrooms and Schedules and then be approved by the entire faculty.
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