BYU-Idaho students will soon experience greater flexibility in planning for the classes they need as the new academic calendar is implemented in January 2007.

The new calendar will create a system of three equal periods of 14 weeks for each semester.

“The biggest issue [for summer students] is that they say, ‘I can’t get all the classes I need,’” said Roy Huff, BYU-I associate academic vice president for curriculum. “If the summer classes are all being offered between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., and they have to take three classes, they can’t because they conflict with each other. … This will wipe away that problem. It will be like the fall/winter model.”

Professors will be required to teach the same classes during summer that are offered during the other semesters. They will continue to teach 36 credits each year, but it will be spread out over a longer period of time. Administration feels this will create a better learning experience for students and allow for more productive class periods. Each class will have 10 minutes more per day, but two weeks less in the semester.

“The perception that fall and winter semesters were ‘better’ was being perpetuated because [students] had full access to faculty while they were here; they didn’t have to adjust their schedule to get the classes they needed,” Huff said. “But now we feel like everything is going to be on equal footing. We hope that by shaving [each semester] by two weeks, we haven’t damaged the type of instruction that we can deliver.”

Administration is also working to make more degrees available for all tracks.

“One of the biggest things is that we only have certain degrees offered on certain tracks,” Huff said. “We want classes offered twice a year so that no matter what track you’re on, the classes will be offered more frequently … I think this will alleviate some of those log jams we’re seeing.”