Five-Star Friday Opinions From Fellow UA Students
Among the students asked, many were positive about the initiative.
A few students spend time in the Taber Student Union.
November 10, 2018
Nearing the end for the school semester, The Buchtelite asked several University of Akron students their opinions about Five-Star Fridays.
Five-Star Fridays is an initiative implemented by former UA president, Matthew Wilson, that shortened the school week for most students to four days. The initiative was meant to allow students to use Fridays for extracurriculars and internship opportunities.
Alizabeth Christian
Post-Baccalaureate Geology Major
President, Muslim Students Association
When asked what she thinks about Five-Star Fridays, Christian said she appreciates that the initiative gives her time to catch up on her studies and allows her to schedule meetings with her professors.
However, Christian also said she thinks that it places stress on teachers and students to learn more information within a compacted block of time. This makes learning difficult material more intense, she said and takes a toll on their attention
“Realistically, from my experience, students’ attention spans tend to be lost within these longer class times,” Christian said.
Overall, though, Christain said it is successful and appreciated by most students.
Sonia Potter
Senior English Major
President, Upstart Crows
Potter said Five-Star Fridays has been a bit of an adjustment, but she still really appreciates it. She mentions that the initiative has personally been useful to her because she has an internship this semester.
“If we had classes on Fridays, it would be much more difficult for me to schedule all my obligations,” Potter said.
Sarah Pack
Senior Psychology Major
Five-Star Fridays have not affected her studies at all, Pack said, but rather how she manages time.
Pack said she notices there are more people on campus during prime times of the day, like noon, that makes the campus too congested. To find parking, Pack said she has to arrive to campus earlier than usual.
For instance, Pack said during the first week of classes she got to campus 30 minutes before her class started and still had trouble finding adequate parking and getting to class on time.
Pack said it’s a nice idea but she doesn’t think it works well for the University.
Bryon Dickon
English Literature Graduate Student
Dickon said that Five-Star Friday’s does not affect him personally, but he has concerns about the workload undergraduate students receive.
Because students have an extra day off, their professors might see that as a reason to give them extra homework, Dickon said.
Dickon said he has heard complaints from students about being given extra homework, but can’t speak for those students.
Tell Us What You Think
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Taylor • Aug 26, 2019 at 5:08 PM
One of the benefits of five star Fridays was the ability for students to work. As an upperclassmen trying to complete my internship I appreciate having the day open. Those who say that it conflicts with your class scheduling… Getting rid of five star Friday adds another class section to your agenda. It seems silly and unfair that the decision has been made to have classes on Friday again as one of the KEY benefits was the ability to work.
Megan McDivitt • Apr 4, 2019 at 3:04 PM
I’m an MET undergraduate student.
I do not like Five Star Fridays. I’ve had to schedule classes so that I only have classes two days of the week and I won’t be done until 10pm, this after the block of classes starting at 4:15. Five classes in one day. It was either that or bad teachers and a risk of failing. I am gonna be burnt out by fall’s end. I was trying to avoid having that type of schedule when I first started to attend UAkron.
I can’t attend any events on campus already due to conflict of class schedule. Thank god I live on campus or couldn’t keep my class schedule.
I can’t keep focus for the entire class periods normally. Then there are teachers that don’t do time management all that well. There are less options for different time periods for classes and when so many classes are spring or fall only that can set you back an entire year. If there were more teachers this wouldn’t be an issue.
Nothing happens on campus on Fridays.
Most students don’t use that time for what was intended. I know I use it for homework or sleeping. I know a few classmates that use it for the exact same things. I don’t have time during the week to attend anything and my design team meets when I have class.
I’ve watched traffic get so congested as there are too many students on campus at once. I remember driving to home and back to campus during freshmen year and it was never this bad.