Aaron Benson
scroll staff

With the calendar change approved by the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2007 will bring many changes for BYU-Idaho students.

Fourteen-week semesters will be more condensed than the 16-week semesters students are accustomed to, allowing less time for students to study, socialize and write papers.

Students have to realize that there’s going to be a different rhythm, a different pace. Take off two weeks and you can’t procrastinate nearly as long in 14 weeks as you did in 16,” said Max Checketts, academic vice president.

The condensed semester, however, should decrease the cost of living for students. Two fewer weeks means fewer groceries to buy, less gasoline to use and possibly a lower housing cost.

“You might expect housing contracts to be reduced a little bit. On the other hand, every year there seems to be a little incremental increase and so I think if they look at it, [housing owners] might say, ‘We’ll just freeze the amount for one year instead of doing an increase,’ but it’s their own choice,” said Jim Gee, student life vice president.

Along with the decrease in cost, students will have more time during their semester off to earn money and prepare for school.

However, students on the summer/fall track will have their break split into two — 14 weeks after the fall semester and six to seven weeks between summer and fall. Gee believes student patience and understanding will help make the transition smoother.

Brittani Lusk
senior writer

From a faculty perspective, the new program is all about students.

President Clark said the new calendar year will “increase the quality of instruction and the number of students [that can be taught in the] summer.”

Professors share this vision. Scroll interviewed BYU-I faculty members, and although some were frustrated with the new calendar, most were supportive and used words like “great” and “awesome” to describe the plan.

“I am completely supportive … [of] whatever works for the good of the students,” said Chris Andrews of the Business Management Department.

Most professors saw an advantage in the increased quality of the summer semester and most are glad to see more equality among the three tracks.

aculty members acknowledge that the 14-week semesters will require some restructuring of class material and a greater focus on the part of students.

“It will require more intense student focus and better teaching methods,” said Rex Barzee of the Information Systems Department.

The amount of coursework will be the same. For example, in a literature class that currently requires students to read six books, students will still read the six books, just two weeks faster.

Keli Glade
scroll staff

Local businesses and housing contracts could be affected by BYU-Idaho’s new calendar, but the schedule modifications seem to be nothing to worry about.

“We deal with flips constantly,” said Eric Cavener, store manager of the local Wal-Mart. “[Our] calendar changes every year. I shouldn’t have any issues whatsoever.”

Broulim’s will rely on the locals during the seven week break in the summer, said Dennis Jordan, store director.

Locals tend to shop more when students aren’t around because they can get in and out faster, Jordan said.

BYU-Idaho’s housing office is willing to make any necessary changes for the calendar.

“It’s still pretty new to us,” said Doug Sorensen, assistant director of housing.

“We’re still exploring to fit pieces of the puzzle together.”

There will be a meeting on Thursday, March 24, in Taylor 120 at 5 p.m. for all managers and owners of approved housing complexes to ask any questions or voice any concerns about housing.