UNLV wants to boost weekend course offerings

Sleepy Saturdays at UNLV may soon be a thing of the past as administrators plan to boost weekend class offerings beginning next fall.

Officials are still working out details, but Senior Vice Provost Carl Reiber said the school may move about eight to 10 offerings in its course menu to Friday and Saturday for the first semester of the next academic year. Administrators may push even more into the weekend if they find enough demand.

"We're going to start small," Reiber said. "I don't want to throw a party and have no one show up."

The effort follows a decadeslong, nationwide trend among higher education institutions aiming to relieve space crunches and to accommodate students who work during the week, said Melora Sundt, a professor at the University of Southern California who specializes in higher education governance and administration.

"There is a tendency to bunch (classes up on) Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and between 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.," Sundt said. "Some places require departments to put a percentage of course offerings every day" during nonpeak hours.

UNLV administrators want to provide a mix of weekend courses that can lead to a degree if paired with the school's core requirements, most of which are offered online. Reiber is speaking with department heads to determine which disciplines would have the highest demand. Possibilities include UNLV's business, hotel administration, urban affairs and education schools.

Officials would like to house students in one building, allowing them to interact as a group while they advance through the curriculum together.

For the past two semesters, UNLV has offered an average of seven classes on Saturdays. The school holds an average of 190 classes on Fridays this semester and it offered 219 during the fall semester.

Friday offerings come from a variety of disciplines, but are heavy on math and science. The Saturday classes are generally in special education, social work, philosophy, film and in the school's executive master's degree in business administration — a program designed for midcareer workers.

Administrators are boosting nonpeak class offerings as the state's higher education officials seek to maximize the use of space at Nevada's growing colleges and universities. School officials will discuss how they're attempting to do that during the next regular Nevada System of Higher Education regents' meeting in March.

"We don't need to just shift people around," Regent Allison Stephens said at a Jan. 22 meeting where the board discussed the use of NSHE facilities. "We need to be able to utilize this as another way to bring more students in so that they can benefit from higher education."

UNLV student body President Kanani Espinoza told regents that while students haven't expressed enthusiasm about more weekend classes, many who work would likely benefit.

"You'd take them if you didn't have a choice," said Andrea Gonzalez, 24, a senior studying international business who works full time at SLS Las Vegas. "They would be good to have."

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