Chapel credit for discipleship small groups have changed from one credit for every small group session attended to five credits for every 10 attended, but commuter students say it will put a strain on their wallet.

The purpose of the change is to “help bring the community more together,” said Chuck Swanson, dean of community life, and “to bring out the community more often.”

 Amy Boyer, commuter assistant, said that many commuters feel like the requirement to come to more morning chapels is a costly inconvenience.

“They don’t have classes every day, purposefully, to save money,” she said. “To meet the chapel requirement, they have to come on those days [that they don’t have classes] and spend a lot of money for that hour and then go home or to work.”

Boyer also said that some commuters expressed concern because they don’t live 10 minutes away like others.

“Lowering [credit for small group] is really making it hard for them,” she said.

Scott Dalton, a senior majoring in youth ministry, has been a commuter since freshman year and attended a small group last year. He said he dislikes the chapel change.

“If you attend 10 small groups you should get 10 credits,” he said.

Dalton said that it seems like students will have to go to twice as many small groups because of the change.

“I love chapel and I think chapel is a great thing, but the new changes are going to make students not want to go to small group,” he said

Josh Kolman, a junior majoring in biology and health science said he prefers to go to morning chapels.

“[The chapel change] doesn’t affect me because I don’t go to small groups, he said.

Although the changes are unsettling for some commuters, discipleship coordinators appear to have a positive outlook.

Lindsay Mayer, a junior majoring in pre-med and a first year DC, likes the chapel change because she thinks it will bring out the faithful.

“I think it will cut out the people who just come for chapel credit and who don’t come to invest themselves in the group,” she said.

Amber Evans, a junior and second year DC, agrees the change will weed out casual visitors.

“I definitely agree with the chapel changes, she said through an e-mail. “ I also think that it will encourage better commitment to the small group so that people can get the credit.”

While students are adjusting to new small group requirements, other chapel changes are also taking effect this semester.

Tuesdays will become a presidential chapel that will include Joe Stowell , CU president, speaking every other week and a guest speaker fulfilling his role the following week. For that hour, Swanson said the entire CU campus will be shut down to encourage attendance. Wednesday and Friday chapels, as well as Sunday night’s Evensong, will remain the same.

To enhance the praise and worship environment, Swanson said new instruments and lighting equipment will be purchased gradually throughout the fall semester, including a stage and carpet squares to cover the gymnasium floor.

Swanson said the renovations are funded by an anonymous donation.

“Dr. Stowell has gotten external donors to cover it,” Swanson said. “Equipment is not coming off general budget.”

Dave Weaver, event technical director, is excited about the changes and said the carpet squares will, “help save the floor, help acoustics, and create a little more intimate space.”

He said new improvements are “a great step in the right direction,” and he believes CU’s new president wants chapel “to be a chapel program that is one of the best amongst Christian colleges.”

He also said it allows “a view into the spiritual life of the college, and hopefully, a drawing card.”