Although students at the University of Iowa might have more classes on Fridays if an Iowa official gets her way, Iowa State has not even considered such an idea.

Iowa students traditionally do not have many classes on Friday, but, according to the provost’s office, Iowa Associate Provost for Undergraduate Education Lola Lopes recently expressed her interest to increase the number of Friday classes at Iowa.

Lopes could not be reached for comment.

Amy Kirkey, secretary for the Iowa office of the provost, class times would be concentrated on a Monday/Thursday and Tuesday/Friday schedule in 75-minute intervals, much like the Tuesday/Thursday class schedules that students at Iowa State are currently familiar with.

Iowa State does not have any plans to increase classes on Friday.

“We have not considered it,” said Associate Dean of Education Roger Smith. “We are always open to new ideas.”

Smith said last year ISU officials thought about increasing class length from 50 to 60 minutes, but both students and faculty decided against the idea.

“There was no push for Friday classes,” Smith said.

If Iowa State were to adopt the Iowa policy plan, classes including labs and field experience would increase on Wednesdays, and Fridays would focus more on regular classes, Smith said.

Students generally shy away from Friday classes, as Jonathan Vander Wilt, a sophomore in pre-business, suggests. His schedule contains only one Friday class.

“I don’t think that would go over well for me,” Vander Wilt said of additional Friday classes. “My weekend starts on Thirsty Thursdays.”

Daniel Schlenker, a junior in marketing and management at the Iowa Henry B. Tippie College of Business, was able to set up his schedule to have no classes on Friday.

“I like the ability to not have class on Friday,” Schlenker said. “It allows me to get my homework done before the weekend. Also, you can go out on Thursday and not have to get up in the morning.”

When Friday comes along, students are usually preoccupied and lack concentration.

“By the end of the week, people are sick of classes and thinking about what is going to happen in two or three hours,” Vander Wilt said.

This cognitive lapse of students is not lost on university professors.

“It seems that Thursday night is drinking night,” Smith said.

Smith does not encourage this activity. He said that students seem to be more excited to get out of class on Friday.

Students generally would like to have class from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. Monday through Thursday, Smith said.

“We don’t have the facilities to run classes at that time,” he said. “We also are trying to be as sensitive to schedules as possible.”

Basically, Iowa State has had the same Monday/Wednesday/Friday schedule of 50-minute classes and Tuesday/Thursday schedule of 75-minute classes for 50 years, Smith said.

Friday class is not unusual for some students. For example, the College of Design regularly schedules Friday classes.