The Online Reflector

Students’ graduation dates may be postponed because general education, major or minor requirements may not be offered when needed.

According to Krista Swisher, academic advisor for the College of Arts and Sciences, many conflicts occur in the major areas with linear, regimented requirements.

“Requirements are so regimented that so many classes must be done by or at a certain time,” Swisher said. “It will trip you up further down the line if you miss it.”

Junior Kierre Childers had a few scheduling conflicts her freshman year. As a result of formerly being both a music and public relations (PR) major, her classes often conflicted.

“There are two required classes offered Mondays and Wednesdays at noon,” Childers says. “It was applied PR and music seminars. Now it’s just PR.”

Space limitations cause most scheduling conflicts. Professors often have trouble finding a classroom they consider suitable, and there are only so many labs to use on campus, particularly for the science classes.

Another source of conflict is when freshman-level classes are scheduled at the same time as the new student experience classes.

Most teams practice weekdays from 3 to 5:30 p.m., so any athlete wanting to take a class during that time slot is usually out of luck. Professor of History and Department Chair Lawrence Sondhaus said that there used to be a policy stating that if one class is offered in that time slot, other sections of that class were supposed to be made available at other times.

“Due to space limitations and lab requirements, this policy has been falling apart for years,” Sondhaus said.

Scheduling conflicts may also arise due to certain classes being on a two or three year rotation. More advanced classes are not offered as frequently due to the professors’ schedule and a lack of enrollment.

“If we offered [advanced classes] every year, they wouldn’t get enrollment,” Sondhaus said. “Too many students would be around who had already fulfilled that requirement.”

Jeff Oaks, professor and chair of mathematics and computer science, agreed.

“Upper-level math classes are offered every two years. Math majors don’t have to take all of them, but they could if they start fall semester of their junior year,” Oaks said.

The requirements for English majors have just been revised this year. According to Bill Dynes, professor and chair of the English department, the transition from the old requirements to the new has been a source of scheduling conflict as well.
Students who have transferred to UIndy or change their major junior or senior year may also run into problems.

“I’ve had students come to me and tell me ‘I need this class to graduate.’ I have to take them on a case-by-case basis. Sometimes we can arrange for an independent study,” Oaks said.

Sondhaus has methods to avoid scheduling conflicts. History offers almost no classes in the 3:00 to 5:30 p.m. time slot to help athletes fit classes into their schedules. A few exceptions are World History, which has other sections offered at other times, and Model UN, which counts as an elective for international relations majors.

History and education classes tend to conflict as well, mainly in junior or senior year. Sondhaus said that the education classes have gotten better at being offered at more predictable and flexible times, making it less of an issue.

“A big part of classes being in rotation is a function of [UIndy] being a smaller school,” Sondhaus said. “If you go to a bigger or state school, there’s more expectation that what you need might be offered.”

Senior Jason Thompson said he has never had a scheduling conflict and he has closely followed the curriculum sheets and listened to his advisors in preparation for graduating this May.

“Every year I go through the sheets and see what classes I have and haven’t taken,” Thompson said. “Just seeing what I need to get done when.”

Junior Erin Cooper also has never had a scheduling conflict. Cooper cites paying attention to the rotation and jumping on a rare class when it’s offered.

“I have a few classes left and what remains has more than one section. I really didn’t have to worry about it this time,” Cooper said.

Dynes also tries to avoid scheduling conflicts by offering alternative classes or independent studies to make up for any classes that don’t fit in a student’s schedule.

“It’s always just a part of doing business. Our literature degree is flexible enough that we can offer core classes regularly,” Dynes said.

In the past, students have tried to get around scheduling conflicts by taking classes at other institutions or universities and then transferring the credits to UIndy. Students may also make arrangements with department chairs for independent studies, and they may also take summer classes at UIndy to fit all the requirements in before graduation.

Although each individual department has the final say over which classes count toward a student’s major, Swisher will try to arrange alternate arrangements for general education requirements by discussing the situation with her superiors or the department chairs and raise the issue.

“We have a tremendous amount of responsibility, but very little power,” Swisher said.