Beginning in Spring 2022, the University Registrar will end the temporary COVID-19-induced extension of the between-class time period. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the university provided a 10-minute gap between undergraduate classes.
The break between undergraduate classes will now be shortened from 20 to 15 minutes. Per Professor Daniel Arena, the university will also impose an hour-long lunch break on Tuesdays and Thursdays between 12:15 and 1:15 p.m. CDT, during which no classes will be scheduled for undergraduates. Campus Dining denied The Hustler’s request for comment on this matter.
“This extension [20 minutes break between classes] was designed to be temporary, as classes were further spread across campus and to allow students to observe social distancing guidelines as they entered and exited classrooms,” Assistant Provost and University Registrar Bart Quinet said in an email to The Hustler. “Beginning spring 2022, the university will implement a 15-minute time period between undergraduate classes to continue to allow students additional time to move from one class to another.”
Junior Aaron Guo said he thinks that a 15-minute gap should be sufficient for most students.
“Personally, this would be a great policy update for me because of how my schedule is set up,” Guo said, “I have classes and labs from 10 a.m. all the way until 4 p.m. with no lunch break in between, and with the insane lines at dining halls, there’s literally no time for me to have proper lunches on these days.”
On the other hand, sophomore Sandy Wang said that she doesn’t think 15 minutes between classes will be enough for students traveling across campus, as she has struggled to do so in 20 minutes this semester.
“I have classes in Peabody College, and my next class is at Buttrick Hall,” Wang said. “Sometimes it is just not enough for me to travel from Peabody to the main campus.”
Both Guo and junior Hijaan Mitha anticipate potential problems with implementing the same lunch break for everyone, as this could increase wait times at dining halls.
Mitha also expressed concerns regarding classes running later in the evening on Tuesdays and Thursdays due to the addition of the lunch break. According to the Spring 2022 standard time block schedule, classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays will typically end at 5:45 p.m. CDT, 20 minutes later than in the Fall 2021 semester.
