MOST CLASSES at the UST Faculty of Arts and Letters (AB) will now run until 7 p.m. as part of the administration’s efforts to ensure student safety and promote energy conservation, Faculty Secretary Asst. Prof. Louie Ignacio said.
Quoting AB Dean Prof. Melanie Turingan, Ignacio said the shift to earlier class hours aims to address safety concerns, noting that untoward incidents tend to occur late at night.
The new schedule also allows campus offices and support services to align their operating hours with student activities.
“We are slowly starting this academic year, so there are no more 7 to 9 [p.m. classes] on Monday, Friday, and Saturday. We’re slowly phasing them out,” Ignacio told The Flame.
“That’s also in support of all these offices that are doing the same… And like what the Dean said, many of the cases we’ve had happened late at night. So we also hope to address that, if something happens, there will be people around.”
Ignacio said that only a few 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. classes at the St. Raymund de Peñafort building would remain, mainly those scheduled on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Meanwhile, all classes held at the Buenaventura Garcia Paredes, O.P. building will fully implement the 7 p.m. cutoff.
He noted that students from the Legal Management program are an exception, as some practicing lawyers can only attend classes during evenings.
“The intention is to move their classes to Saturdays, which is not an office day. That way, classes can be held throughout the day, even earlier—not just 7 to 9 [p.m.],” the AB administrator said.
Gradual sustainability push
The schedule change is also part of a wider sustainability effort within the faculty, including energy-saving measures for the St. Raymund de Peñafort building’s classroom utilities.
“The FMO (Facilities Management Office) has an ongoing project to see what benefits we can gain from modulating air conditioning and ventilation. The second is the assessment of our air conditioning unit, if they’re already old or if it would be more energy-efficient to replace them rather than just repair them,” he said.
The faculty secretary also noted that 27 air conditioning units are slated for replacement this academic year. F – with reports from Veancy Palad
