Professors’ Commentary: The Politics of Course Time Slots

When one of the authors (Campbell) was a graduate student at Cornell in the late 1960s, he never ceased to be amazed at how graduate mathematics courses were scheduled. At the start of each term, all 80 or so graduate students and all 30 or so faculty teaching graduate courses met together in one room. Invariably in under an hour, a schedule was negotiated under which all student course desires were met without time conflicts. This impressive feat was no doubt due to the department’s commitment that every student be able to realize the combination of courses that he or she wanted, plus unusual flexibility by the faculty about the hours when they would teach. Franklin et al. describe in this issue of The UMAP Journal their successful efforts to find a schedule of science and mathematics courses at Spelman College that avoids all conflicts [1994]. After the mathematics, though, come the nonmathematical difficulties of practical application and implementation: “selling the solution” to the clients. A “course schedule” includes two aspects: