Running head: SEMESTERS ARE BETTER

Semesters are Better for Students in Higher Education Catie Holker Seattle University SDAD 576 Leadership and Governance in Post Secondary Education Dr. Jeremy Stringer May 22, 2013

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Unlike most college students, I have been given the opportunity to experience attending classes on both a semester schedule and a quarter schedule during my academic career due to the privilege of enrolling in graduate studies. My undergraduate experience at St. Cloud State University (SCSU) was scheduled on a semester system, and here at Seattle University (SU), classes are scheduled on a quarter system. In my opinion, the semester system is superior. Firstly, the semester system allows for more adequate time for students to engage in longterm projects, assignments, or service learning. For instance, if a students service-learning assignment is to tutor an elementary student at a local school, with one of the learning outcomes being to develop a trusting and working relationship with the tutee, a student on the quarter system only has ten short weeks to develop a relationship with a stranger. This would be more easily and effectively accomplished on the semester system, where a student has fifteen to sixteen weeks to do such a thing. In general, the semester system allows students more opportunities for content absorption, potentially creating higher grade point averages (GPAs) and smarter individuals. Some might argue the quarter system gives students more opportunities to be successful; students have three opportunities per year to enroll in a course versus only two. However, the semester system is still a more beneficial schedule for students because it provides them for more time during the term to raise their grade instead of having to take it over again to fix their GPA or receive a passing grade. Secondly, administrators would benefit from doing one less round of paperwork per year, especially the state schools that are required to report to the government due to being state funded. Reducing the number of times a cycle is repeated allows for lower overall annual spending on reports, registrations, paperwork, et cetera. This allows additional time for administrators to work on improving the current cycle and becoming more efficient in record

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keeping and electronic data storage. Departments can save a significant amount of their budget on printing and reporting if they must report statistics and submit paperwork just two times per year instead of three. Indicating that the semester system better benefits the budgets of both higher education institutions and the area of government that supplies budget to state funded institutions. Thirdly, student affairs administrators who deal with programming of any sort have more time to host events and publicize them. Clubs and departments are not encouraged to program events during or before mid-term exams and final exams. On the semester system, students, faculty, and staff have more opportunities per year to program to their constituents. To understand this argument, note the diagrams below. ______________________________________________________________________________ Diagram A Quarter System 10 Weeks Week 1 2 3 4 X 5 X 6 7 8 9 X 10 X 6 programmable weeks per quarter times 3 quarters per academic year = 18 programmable weeks per year ______________________________________________________________________________ Diagram B Semester System 15 Weeks Week 2 3 4 5 6 X 7 X 8 9 10 11 12 13 14X 15X
1

11 programmable weeks per semester times 2 semesters per academic year = 22 programmable weeks per year ______________________________________________________________________________ With more opportunities to plan events and grow as a department, club, or individual, its obvious that the semester system has the advantage for programming. Fourthly, students have more time to get to know professors and establish mentorship type relationships. In this economy and job market, the phrase its not what you know, its who you know is salient. A few meaningful relationships are going to be more valuable than a large

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number of surface level relationships. Professors are people who are experts in their fields, and they oftentimes have ties with companies and institutions outside the university in which they work. This is a huge window of opportunity and networking for students trying to break into their fields and job search after graduation. Networking is important now more than ever, and because of this emphasis, strong relationships are important. The semester system also allows students more time to get to know their peers and classmates. Having the time to develop more personal relationships with peers creates more harmony amongst group projects and teaches successful collaboration. The greater length of the semester system, unlike the quarter system, gives students sufficient time to get to know each other. Some might argue the quarter system allows students to engage with a greater number of professors and peers, but the potential for a longer term relationship with a professor can create a stronger rapport between the student and the institution. Ultimately this could even mean generous donations from happy, devoted alumni. Fifth, professors dont have adequate time between the winter and spring quarter to prepare for the upcoming class and student load. Fall quarter and winter quarter enjoy weeks of preparation time for the coming term, but spring quarter only gets one week before its launch. There are a number of drawbacks to this. First, professors do not have adequate time to update material or turnover grades/reports from the previous quarter. Being rushed for time, professors and administrators are more likely to make mistakes. When professors fail to update their syllabi and course content each term to keep up with new research and findings, they are doing a disservice to their students. They also dont have sufficient time to assess the previous quarter and learn from it to improve services. Another drawback is that this short break between winter and spring can cause early spring quarter fatigue and burn out for both the professor and students. Some might not be able to recover from a rigorous quarter in time for another to begin.

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Mission, tradition, and history may be factors as to why certain institutions keep their system the way it is, but someone with a student development focus and framework would argue that its important to consider what students want and keep up with the changing and constantly developing theories in education and organization. According to a news article from Inside Higher Education (Smith, 2012) colleges and universities across the nation are converting from the quarter schedule to the semester schedule. In Ohio, there were a vast number of institutions that transitioned from the quarter system to the semester system in order to create a common calendar. Herbert Dregalla, director of the transition for Ohio universities, worried that students missed out on internships or jobs because their calendar had them entering the workforce a month later than their peers at semester colleges. 71.2 percent of the 4, 373 institutions that the National Association of College Stores surveyed in 2011 were on a semester calendar and only 14.7 percent of colleges used quarters (Smith, 2012). I must admit, I was elated to try out the quarter system before I began here at Seattle University. I thought I would enjoy the more rapid pace and faster turnover of classes. But Ive quickly realized that the pace isnt good for my own learning due to its high-speed nature. I dont have sufficient time to embed the material into my understanding. For all of the reasons Ive mentioned above, I believe the quarter system is a better schedule overall for all constituents of colleges and universities.

SEMESTERS ARE BETTER References

Smith, M. (2012, February 7). Strength in numbers. Inside Higher Education. Retrieved from http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/02/07/colleges-increasingly-switchingquarters-semesters