COMMON TIME

Common time was implemented in 2001-2002 to create more opportunities for community-building activities, conversation among people across campus, and convocation-like events. It is scheduled for Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11:55 a.m. – 1:15 p.m. No classes will be scheduled during that time (except some labs will run until 12:00 and some labs will begin at 1:00).

The purpose of common time is to foster a greater sense of community and should be used for events and activities that bring faculty, students, and/or staff together. Following are examples of activities that could be scheduled during common time:

• All-campus events (LTC events, guest speakers, recitals),
• Programs related to convo programs (e.g., faculty research talks, discussion groups prior to or following a convo speaker),
• Departmentally-based events (e.g., comps talks and other student presentations, a faculty forum, brown bag lunches for faculty and students),
• Committee or other groups that meet only on an ad hoc basis, irregularly or only for a single term (e.g., department review committees, task forces and subcommittees that meet only periodically),
• Meetings between individual faculty members, students and staff for lunch, socializing, advising, independent study meetings, etc.

Common time should not be used for:

• Required class meetings or required class-related activities,
• Regularly scheduled departmental, administrative, or committee meetings,
• Regularly scheduled meetings of faculty or staff with students (e.g., weekly meetings between supervisors and student language assistants, regular meetings between Residential Life staff and RA’s, etc.).