Very few people can truthfully say that they enjoy wrenching themselves out of bed at the crack of dawn for an 8 a.m. class, so we were all pretty excited when the USC administration told us they were going to get rid of them.
Well, it turns out that they technically did get rid of 8 a.m. classes — They’ll now be held at 8:05 instead. Cruel joke, USC. The administrators’ reasoning was that building space is too valuable, and the school can’t afford to not use classrooms when they can be used. But take a glance in any room at 8 a.m. on a Monday morning, and it’s clear the classroom space isn’t being used anyway. And by that we mean when classes are held that early, students just don’t go.
The earliest classes are the last ones filled and have the lowest attendance rates and the least student participation. Not to mention they can be highly inconvenient for professors as well, since many with families are not able to drop their kids off at school if they have to be in the classroom so early.
The university should consider pushing class start times back further; five minutes just doesn’t cut it. There’s obviously adequate demand for later classes from both students and professors, and pushing classes back an hour or so could also increase what students get out of their education. It’s a win-win situation we can sleep easily with.