New class schedule coming to UTRGV Fall 2027

Starting Fall 2027, UTRGV students and faculty may have to get used to adding an extra day to their weekly schedule, a change aimed at increasing course availability to meet the demand of growing enrollment.

According to a July 22 UTRGV internal memorandum, Fridays will now be added to Monday and Wednesday class meeting times, leaving students with a Monday-Wednesday-Friday (MWF) class meeting time or a Tuesday-Thursday option.

Jonikka Chartlon, senior vice provost for Student Success & Academic Affairs and dean of University College, said currently, students can take classes on Mondays and Wednesdays or Tuesdays and Thursdays, with some occasionally on Friday.

Charlton said with the new course scheduling grid most daytime Friday-only classes will no longer be offered for undergraduate courses.

She added that changes will also affect class duration and start times.

“For this new schedule with Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, [class time] will be reduced because there are three classes that students need to go to now,” Charlton said. “So, there’ll be 50-minute classes three times a week instead of the 75-minutes twice a week.”

She added Tuesdays and Thursdays will still be 75-minute classes twice a week.

Charlton said these changes apply to all UTRGV campuses and primarily affect daytime courses, generally those before 4:30 p.m. Evening classes may keep their current schedule.

Because the schedule changes are directed toward daytime classes, undergraduate students will be the most affected. Graduate and other post-baccalaureate programs will still have most classes offered in the evening.

Chartlon said regardless of the category of the courses, they will all have new and earlier start times to “maximize” the number of class times across the week.

“The undergraduate class has grown so much that we’re having to use every possible classroom time that we can find, to try to offer enough seats for our students,” she said. “So, really the primary reason for this change is we need additional classroom capacity to meet the demand.”

The internal memorandum also states UTRGV’s current scheduling grid underutilizes Friday classroom space “while overloading it earlier in the week.”

The change will allow the university to provide an estimated 600 additional classroom slots, according to Charlton.

Jennifer Saxton-Rodriguez, UTRGV professor of theatre, said the new scheduling changes will definitely lead to mixed reactions from students and faculty.

“I think it’s mixed with everybody,” Saxton-Rodriguez said. “Everybody has different reasons why it might be good or bad, and a lot of us see both, you know, like I do.”

Regarding potential downsides, Saxton-Rodriguez said she does not see a downside other than she wished she had taken more Fridays off when they were available because she works the entire school week regardless.

Despite this, Saxton-Rodriguez said a potential downside that can arise for students with busy schedules.

“I … know students who work,” she said. “That’s probably where my mind goes when I think about … a downside.”

Saxton-Rodriguez said the change will benefit her as she has had issues with the current scheduling grid.

“When we first switched over, [to the current schedule], we started having problems with people signing up for labs on Thursdays,” she said. “People just didn’t come on Thursday afternoons because it was the beginning of their weekend.”

Saxton-Rodriguez added the new course scheduling grid would allow her to cover more material for her students.

“I’ve got two classes that would benefit greatly from being three days a week,” she said. “You can’t have just one lecture per week.”

Similarly, communication sophomore Angeline Almazan said she has mixed feelings toward the schedule change.

“I think it’ll be … harder for students … I know a lot of students have to work while doing school,” Almazan said. “I … work and then … [do] band, so I know [this] already [interferes] with practices.”

However, Almazan also said a more packed schedule may be worth reducing the overcrowding in her classes.

“I think it’s [worth it]… if it opens more classes and won’t be as [crowded],” she said.