In Class From 8 a.m. to 9:50 p.m

Wow that is a lot of classroom time in one day.

Citing the effects of high gas prices on the pocketbooks of its commuting students, Volunteer State Community College in Gallatin, Tenn., is introducing what it calls “Full Time Friday” in the fall semester. This option allows for students to enroll in as many as four general education courses in sections that only gather during Friday meeting times. Though students do not have to enroll in a full day’s worth of classes to take advantage of this scheduling opportunity, some have already expressed to the college that they would have taken full advantage had it been offered to them in them past. More enterprising students, for example, could maintain their full-time status by taking all four Friday-only classes via this option. A potential downside is that such a student would be in class from 8 a.m. until just before 10 p.m. and spend almost 11-and-a-half hours sitting in the classroom. There is an hour break for lunch and two 30 minute breaks between afternoon and evening classes. Still, college administrators admit this schedule is not for the faint of heart.

Gee, you think?

My posterior aches just thinking about it. The discipline and endurance it will require is shocking, but some people will take advantage of it and I am glad to see a school trying something new.