The Sacramento State Faculty Senate will discuss a plan to eliminate Monday-Wednesday classes in favor of Monday-Wednesday-Friday classes at its meeting today, 3 p.m. at Foothill Suite in the University Union.

The University?s plan calls for fall 2002 Monday-Wednesday-Friday classes lasting 50 minutes per session between the “peak hours” of 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. The current Monday-Wednesday format would be abolished during those hours. Classes offered after 2 p.m. could still follow the 75 minute, two sessions per week format. Tuesday-Thursday classes would not change.

President Donald R. Gerth said he will attend today?s meeting to “hear the faculty?s input” before making a decision about the fall 2002 schedule.

“I?m hearing both sides,” Gerth said. “Ultimately, the decision rests with me,” Associated Students, Inc. President Artemio Pimentel has spoken to Gerth and sees both sides of the issue.

Paul Noble of the Academic Affairs Office said that Gerth is considering the schedule change in response to the shortage of classroom space on campus caused by record student enrollment.

With class enrollment growing between 5 and 7 percent each year, Sac State is searching for answers to its overcrowding problem.

“Right now, only 8 percent of lecture enrollment is on Fridays. It?s the one day that the class space doesn?t get used,” he said.

The new schedule would increase classroom use. “The only other alternative is to build more buildings, and that isn?t going to happen for some time,” Noble said.

“The University wants to expand facility usage to its best advantage,” Pimentel said, “but (when) the school starts messing with the schedule, they?re messing around with students lives.”

“I hope that whatever they decide that they leave it alone for a while so that students don?t have to make another lifestyle change,” he said.

If the new schedule is implemented it will increase class space by 25 percent. “We?ll be able to offer six classes in a six hour block of time, as opposed to our current system that allows only four classes in six hours,” he said.

Gerth said that any change for the fall 2002 schedule must be rendered by Oct. 1 to allow administration time to plan staffing and curriculum.