With registration for fall semester just around the corner, Miami University students have a few surprises waiting for them when it comes to scheduling.

Students can now look forward to at least 15 minutes between all classes and a more flexible schedule with the implementation of new time blocks for the fall 2009 semester, according to University Registrar Dave Sauter.

According to Sauter, it may take some time for students to adjust to the changes in class times.

"It's a change for everyone," Sauter said. "There's a cultural shift for the campus."

Provost Jeffrey Herbst agreed.

"It's a complicated process, but we've done a lot of work to prepare the campus and to make sure classes fit in," Herbst said.

Sauter said the new schedule allows for more 75-minute classes on days other than Tuesday and Thursday, as it was a popular idea among faculty, while still accommodating for the traditional 50-minute Monday, Wednesday and Friday classes.

"Classes were always pushed to Tuesdays and Thursdays because that was the only time you could really offer 75-minute classes," Sauter said.

Herbst said faculty found the longer time block more useful.

"In a little more than 60 minutes, faculty said they can get more done, but it's not a huge block of time," Herbst said.

Students will also have 15 minutes between all classes, according to Sauter.

"We heard from the very beginning that 10 minutes wasn't enough," Sauter said. "We've got more real estate on campus, we're using the corners a lot more now."

Sauter said extra travel time is not only a bonus for students, but also for teachers who will not be as rushed to set up and tear down their classrooms and will also have a few extra minutes to speak with students.

Start times for classes now fall on times such as 9:05 a.m. and 10:10 p.m. rather than on the hour every hour.

As a result, campus dining halls will see a change in patterns of traffic and use.

"It will clearly change the pace and rhythm at which students visit the dining halls," Herbst said. "Peak times will change."

Students, Sauter said, have been involved in the creation of this new schedule from the beginning.

"We've had student input from the very get go," Sauter said. "I went back to ASG a couple of times, and we talked about it at (university) senate."

In 2006, the President's Task Force on Alcohol suggested adding a Friday component to 30 percent of all classes. Sauter said 40 percent of classes meet on Fridays for the fall 2009 semester schedule.

According to Herbst, the task force suggestion arose stems from the reasoning that Friday classes would curb Thursday night drinking.

The task force also suggested more early morning classes, and this idea was incorporated into the new schedule.

"In the fall, almost 30 percent of classes will have an 8:00 or 9:05 start time, the first two blocks of the day," Sauter said.

Sauter said one of the goals of the new time block schedule was to have 12 percent of all classes at 8 a.m., and according to Sauter that goal was almost met, with 9.4 percent of fall 2009 classes offered at 8 a.m.

A lingering concern both Sauter and Herbst said needed to be taken into account was the amount of classes requiring evening exams but do not have a scheduled exam time.

"One of the biggest complaints from the ASG academic affairs subcommittee is unscheduled evening exam times," Herbst said. "When they're not on a schedule they conflict with other student activities."

The final exam schedule will also change in the fall semester, with exams now starting at 8 a.m. rather than 7:30 a.m., and Friday exams ending earlier to allow for seniors whose schedules could conflict with possible graduation ceremonies, according to Sauter.

"We've been working with (university) senate on final exam week," Sauter said. "We've got that pretty established across all campuses and the final exam period will mirror when the class actually is."