Starting next semester, some Cornerstone University students will have to roll out of bed earlier for classes. Several classes will start at 7:30 a.m., 30 minutes earlier than this semester’s earliest classes.

Additionally, all Monday, Wednesday and Friday classes will be a full hour in length, as opposed to the current 50-minute classes. All Tuesday and Thursday classes will be 90 minutes long. Evening classes will meet from 6 to 9:10 p.m.

The changes are due to the later start to the fall semester that will take effect this coming school year. The fall 2009 semester will begin Sept. 9, whereas the fall 2008 semester began on Aug. 25.

“The lengthening of class times was necessary in order to complete the semester as early in December as possible,” said Registrar Gail Duhon. “We did not want to end the semester too close to Christmas.”

Many campus offices need time after the end of the semester for processing, including the Registrar’s office and Student Financial Services, so ending the semester too close to Christmas would force staff to work through the Christmas break, Duhon said.

“We also did not want to eliminate fall break and/or shorten the Thanksgiving break. We felt the students deserve this time away from classes to refresh,” Duhon said.

It was not possible to create more late classes because Professional and Graduate Studies classes use many of the campus classrooms from 6 to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, said Duhon.

“Our faculty have graciously reconsidered their typical teaching schedule and proposed earlier and later times to teach,” Duhon said.

Late in the summer of 2008, a task force was formed by the president’s cabinet to make a decision on the shape the schedule would take. Its members were associate provost for traditional programming Tim Detwiler; John VerBerkmoes, academic dean and assistant professor of education ministries at Grand Rapids Theological Seminary; William Riter, associate professor of business; Julie Weston, assistant professor of music and director of vocal studies; and Ray Gates, associate professor of biology.

They presented their recommendations to the faculty senate in September 2008, and the official decision was made shortly thereafter, Duhon said.

One of those teaching an early morning class will be Brent Rudin, associate vice president for university communications. He will teach section one of Communication in Culture.

Because teaching the class is “on the side,” in addition to his main job as associate vice president for university communications, Rudin said, it is easier for him to teach the class in the morning and then get going with the rest of his day.

“I taught an 8:30 a.m. communication class last fall, and I enjoyed it. I figured that it would be a good fit,” Rudin said.