Rust adapts to semester system
Rust College students in Holly Springs have gone through significant policy changes on their campus over the past year and are now dealing with the most significant change – a transition from the module system to the traditional semester system.
For those uninformed, the module system on Rust College campus was in place for 47 years before the semester system put in place this fall. Under the module system, students took two to four classes in eight weeks.
By contrast, the semester system has students take four to six classes in sixteen weeks. This change put in place this year by Rust College’s administration, has caused many professors and students to adjust their old routines and schedules.
The shift is one of many changes at Rust College since the installation of Dr. Ivy Taylor last year as president.
Taylor explained why she chose to move the campus to a semester system.
“There were pros and cons on both sides,” she said, “but it seemed that switching to a traditional semester system had a few more advantages. They include alignment with other institutions to facilitate our students participating in exchange programs or other opportunities during break times; creation of traditional breaks for students, lessening the daily teaching load for faculty in order to allow them to be more responsive for their student improving student success in challenging coursework where the short time frame of modular courses did not allow much room for error (I.e. allowing students more time to grasp concepts for a specific course).”
No other Historic Black Colleges and Universities are now using the module system.
The shift from the module to semester model effectively doubles the time a student has to understand classroom materials and allows students to take it a bit slower in the learning process instead of cramming what may be a large amount of knowledge into a short 8-week period.
This process also comes with the drawback of doubling the amount of time one may spend in classes that are either troubling for the student or if they are proficient in the material, with the drawback that it doesn’t allow students to move on to new subjects, slowing down their progress.
Debayo Moyo, Associate Professor in the Department of Mass Communication at Rust College, shared thoughts on the change.
“I prefer the module in terms of pace and movement. It also works better for you guys in terms of moving on,” he said. “Although some folks feel you don’t get the best quality for learning, I don’t find that is necessarily true. Still, I don’t have a problem with the semester system; you do what you must.”
Some students agreed to comment on the move to the semester system.
Darius Hall, a computer science major, commented on the change.
“If you have the module system, it tends to be less work than during the semester since the classes don’t last as long,” he said.
Another student, who wanted to withhold his/her identity, commented in favor of the semester system.
“While I appreciated the module system for getting us out of some classes much sooner, I think the slower pace of the semester system will be more beneficial as time goes on,” the student said. “Professors will get better at pacing work out, and we’ll have more time to understand the lesson if we don’t get it at first.”
While some students and professors seem to prefer the old module system, it’s possible that could change with more time to understand and appreciate the semester system.