‘Community Time’ Tradition Moves to Friday

Community Time at Saint Mary’s, long considered to be an essential element of the institution’s Lasallian educational heritage, will be offered on Fridays this academic year from 1:30–3:10 p.m. rather than on Wednesdays. No classes will be held during the Community Time afternoon window.

Born out of a 2005 proposal by the Campus Deans and Directors Committee, Community Time is designed to foster a more vibrant Saint Mary’s College and strengthen the academic, social, aesthetic, spiritual, and inclusive character of the campus community. 

Why the change? Recent discussions and deliberations involving faculty and the academic community included a rethinking of class time blocks and ways to make Community Time as meaningful to the campus community as possible, said Executive Vice President and Provost Corey Cook. The change in Community Time is part of a suite of curricular adjustments adopted by the Faculty Senate over the last year to support student success. 

Enhanced Campus Vibrancy 

The Community Time move to Friday encourages opportunities to enhance popular existing student programming while also creating new ways to engage students and retain the campus’s lively ambiance.

For instance, the popular Food Truck Friday program, sponsored by SMC Student Life (and including a number of vouchers for free meals!), will now begin at 1 p.m. each Friday to ensure that all students have access to the wonderful diversity of food coming to campus each week. The Intercultural Center’s popular “Feel Good Friday” monthly event has been expanded so more students can participate, with the next FGF taking place on Oct. 6. 

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Other events on Friday afternoons and evenings in September included a new Water Park event, developed by the Campus Activities Board, that took place on September 1. Arts programming has taken full advantage of Community Time scheduling, with Music on the Lawn on September 15, a “Reading Shakespeare” event on Sept. 22, and the fall Student Recital Series that takes place on Fridays at 1:30 p.m. in the Chapel throughout the semester; the first one kicks off Sept. 22. 

The breadth of options on Fridays will encourage students, staff, and faculty—as well as nearby alumni and their families—to take part in campus activities heading into the weekend, Cook notes. 

Wednesday’s Community Time window was never a perfect arrangement, Cook points out. It was often overbooked with department meetings, committee meetings, and other work activities that didn’t fit the initiative’s intended spirit and framework. “Seemingly everyone was being pulled in two or three different directions every Wednesday at 1:00 p.m.,” he says. Fridays won’t bring the same competing priorities. 

“Flex Time” Offers Additional Options

Addressing the need for more flexibility, the College created academic “Flex Time” on Mondays and Wednesdays from 1:30–3:10pm.

Classes can be scheduled during Flex Time, but the time block also is available for committee and department meetings, first year advising cohort (FYAC) classes, adjunct faculty classes, and campus events that aren’t being held on Friday. 

“We’re hoping that Flex Time, coupled with Friday’s Community Time, will help eliminate some of the conflicts that were often present during the former Wednesday Community Time period,” said Cook.

“Taking into account our rigorous academic programs, extracurricular activities, and all the other campus initiatives that take place on our campus, landing on the ‘perfect’ window for Community Time will always be a challenge,” he acknowledged. “But our history and mission dictate that we continue the tradition. We’re determined to make it work.”

WHAT’S HAPPENING? See a full list of events on the SMC Events Calendar.

GET INVOLVED: Check out student clubs and activities.