College to try shorter weeks for summer

Northwest-Shoals Community College - Northwest-Shoals Community College officials will move to a four-day week for the summer semester.

College President Humphrey Lee said the four-day week is a way to save money and resources in the face of potential budget cuts by the Legislature.

"We're anticipating proration, and we're looking to be leaner if we can," he said. "We're also anticipating we could save as much as $20,000, and that would be a minimum. It's any way we can save at this point."

Other two-year colleges in the state, including Calhoun Community College and Wallace State Hanceville, have already made the shift to four-day weeks.

Lee said those school administrators have reported savings in excess of $50,000 by shutting down the campuses for three rather than two days.

At this point, Lee said, the four-day week is experimental at Northwest-Shoals, which has campuses in Muscle Shoals and Phil Campbell.

"It's a fine line because our students are often nontraditional, and we'll see if it helps them by being open later," he said.

"Then we'll see where it goes. Does it go against the community college total accessibility credo to be available to our students?"

In the past, Lee said, the college had offered four-day weeks on a limited basis. And, in the summer, the vast majority of classes take place Monday through Thursday.

Glenda Colagross, vice president for instruction at Northwest-Shoals, said faculty will still be expected to work 35 hours, while staff will cover their 40 hours during four, instead of five, days.

"We'll be adding more classes because, starting this summer, students will be eligible for Pell Grant money, when, in the past, that had only been available in the fall and spring semesters," she said. "Plus, we've seen our enrollment going up, and that would mean we'd need to add more classes."

This spring, for instance, more than 4,000 students were enrolled in classes, up more than 14 percent from the same time in 2009.

In order to accommodate students, Colagross said, some science and career tech classes that have labs could take place later in the day, while classes that had been taught Fridays will be moved to fit the new schedule.

She said she has spoken with colleagues from schools across the country who shifted to a four-day week when the economy took a nosedive in 2008.

"They asked me why we didn't start this then," she said. "We're all trying different things now to see what will help us save a little money."

Lee said summer is a good time to try the four-day week and gather what he called "soft data" from employees.

"We're experimenting with the summer now," he said. "It'd shake the ground up a bit to do this during the fall."

Michelle Rupe Eubanks can be reached at 740-5745 or michelle.eubanks@TimesDaily.com.