UNLV advises professors to consider moving classes off campus for presidential debate

Bracing for “severe disruptions” and jammed parking lots, UNLV leaders are encouraging professors to consider moving classes off campus when the school hosts this year’s final presidential debate during midterm week.

In an email sent last week to faculty and staff at the school’s Hank Greenspun School of Journalism and Media Studies, interim director Joel Lieberman warns that parking areas across campus will be blocked during the Oct. 19 debate and says the university has advised professors “to not hold classes on campus” during the event.

“It may be good idea to adjust your teaching plans and syllabi accordingly,” Lieberman tells staff in the email shared late Monday with the Las Vegas Review-Journal. The debate takes place three days before midterm grades are due, according to UNLV’s website.

University spokesman Tony Allen said the school is considering “alternative plans for campus operations,” which may affect class schedules. Administrators and local officials hope to use the national spotlight from being a debate site to engage students directly in the political process.

The school has even created eight new debate-related classes ahead of the event, including a one-credit history course that will focus specifically on this year’s election. Allen said some students will also help national media outlets throughout the fall and during debate week.

Faculty Senate Chairman William Robinson said professors who teach courses that can tie to the event will use it to create “out-of-the-classroom experiences.”

“The debate gives me a once-in-a lifetime opportunity to have my students study and discuss economic policy debates in a truly experiential way,” Robinson, who is teaching macroeconomics this fall, said in an email. “I’m really excited about it, I know many of my colleagues are too.”

Javier A. Rodríguez, dean of UNLV’s College of Sciences, said faculty in his department have spent months thinking about how to adjust their schedules for the event. While science instructors might not focus much on the debate, “it’s a great educational opportunity” for employees and students alike, Rodriguez said.

He assured that students taking classes that require them to be on campus, such as lab courses, would not be affected.

“Of course, we have to adjust our schedules,” Rodriguez said. “Educational opportunities will not be impacted — just the opposite. This is a great opportunity for all, and we’re eager to participate as much as we can.”

Contact Ana Ley at aley@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5512. Find her on Twitter @la__ley.