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[observer3]

Hi everyone,

Does anyone know whether it is the whole of Wednesday afternoons that is expected to be kept free for sports? Or can there be teaching say before 2 or 3?

This requriement of free afternoons is creating major scheduling problems for our teaching, especially since given a high proportion of practicing Muslim students we can't realistically schedule courses on Fridays either.

One of those things that sounds good in theory but tough in practice? I'm all for being fit but these scheduling difficulties are getting ridiculous. At risk of tons of abuse, I would almost venture that people sometimes should choose whether a class or a sport is more important to them...

Ok, now I've done it! Ouch, those darts hurt!

But seriously, when do these sporting things happen? Does teaching have to stop at noon or is there some leeway?

[observer3]

Ps - and hey, Wednesday evenings would be a great time to have sports activities, no?

Just saying. Apologies in advance but I think this Wednesday policy is a total pain.

[science_expat]

We have been told that there is to be NO teaching on Wednesday afternoons; I think from 1 PM.

I don't understand the Friday problem, however. I though that it was just the 1:30 prayer bit that was really important.

[qrypt]

Also for us, no teaching after 1pm on Wednesdays.  It's not just for sports - for staff, the point is it's time for meetings - woo hoo. 

[expatinuk]

We don't do teaching after 1:00 on Wed... but we do hold night classes Wed  night (5-8). that's a totally different group of students, so the sports thing isn't a problem.

[science_expat]

Also for us, no teaching after 1pm on Wednesdays.  It's not just for sports - for staff, the point is it's time for meetings - woo hoo. 

Oh yeah!

[observer3]

I think for some Muslims it is very important to worship in their own community, which with travel time makes Fridays difficult; my students in this group tend to have quite long commutes to the uni.

I'm intrigued by the fact that sports is more important than religious observance for a quite large group in the UK in university parlance, but maybe that is just me.

[dyst_uk]

It depends on the university.  At mine, it seems to depend on the faculty as well; certain subjects are notorious for timetabling lectures on Wednesday afternoons.  I know my computer science friends had trouble as undergraduates.

As far as prayers go, we have facilities on campus (which unfortunately correspond with lecture theatre access on one campus).

[scotia]

No teaching after 1 pm on Wednesday, apart from some graduate programs. Evenings for sport do not work when the soccer and rugby pitches do not have floodlights.

I have never had problems with Muslim students requiring not to work on Fridays, though my classes on Friday morning end in time for them to attend (local) Friday prayers and be back for afternoon classes - and we have a reasonably high Muslim student population. The Jewish sabbath can be an occasional problem for Friday afternoon classes when it starts getting dark at 4 pm in December and students have to travel up to 40 miles home in Friday traffic before sunset.

[dyst_uk]

I'm intrigued by the fact that sports is more important than religious observance for a quite large group in the UK in university parlance, but maybe that is just me.

If I was in a cynical mode, I would suggest that this is because sports tend to have a higher priority on student unions' lists than e.g. religious observance.  Therefore the unions lobby more strongly about the sports.

[scotia]

I'm intrigued by the fact that sports is more important than religious observance for a quite large group in the UK in university parlance, but maybe that is just me.

If I was in a cynical mode, I would suggest that this is because sports tend to have a higher priority on student unions' lists than e.g. religious observance.  Therefore the unions lobby more strongly about the sports.

Taking a democratic perspective, I suspect sports also have more adherents than religious activities.....

[sandgrounder]

One of the league tables (Times??) started giving ranking points based on where a university finished in the BUSA tables; since then teaching after 1pm on Wednesday is an absolute no-no ay my place except for MA teaching.

[donstefano]

never heard about the wednesday afternoon sports things.
Give students the option: wednesday afternoon, or monday morning 8 am. You will immediately see how important sports is for them...
No problems with the admin here: spreading teaching over many days leads to a more optimal use of rooms.

[drspouse]

This is a long, long UK tradition which also applies to many schools - the last 3 or 4 years will have sports on a Wednesday afternoon so they can be sure other schools will be also having sports that day, so they can compete.  The same applies to Uni sports teams.

We have a moderately high Muslim representation among our students here but they seem to use the prayer room on campus, I've never had a complaint though my department doesn't have as many Muslim students as some others. 

When I worked in London most students lived a long way away and again, no complaints from Muslim students. We did have a tricky situation with a visiting lecturer on an applied option class, the option was very popular, he could only do 4-6 on Friday, and we had a lot of Jewish students.  We told them they had signed up to Mon-Fri 9-6 (we did also have Weds afternoon off, though) and that this was the only time this lecturer could come, and I don't think any of them dropped the class.

[qrypt]

When I worked in London most students lived a long way away and again, no complaints from Muslim students. We did have a tricky situation with a visiting lecturer on an applied option class, the option was very popular, he could only do 4-6 on Friday, and we had a lot of Jewish students.  We told them they had signed up to Mon-Fri 9-6 (we did also have Weds afternoon off, though) and that this was the only time this lecturer could come, and I don't think any of them dropped the class.

Insisting on some sort of formalistic notion that students "sign up for Mon-Fri 9-6" is essentially saying that students can't be observant Jews if they want to attend your university. 

In the instance you describe, the fact that it was an option makes it less of a problem.  But if a core/compulsory module were scheduled at 4pm on a Friday, students would be right to object.