ASUU hosted its second town hall on Friday, Sept. 26, to address student backlash resulting from the University of Utah administration’s recent move to schedule 50% of classes outside the “primetime hours.” 

Located in the Marriott Library Gould Auditorium, the panel was comprised of the following participants: 

• Provost Mitzi Montoya
• Senior Vice Provost for Strategic Enrollment and Student Success Paul Kohn
• Vice Provost for Student Success Dr. T. Chase Hagood
• Vice President of Student Affairs Lori McDonald
• Colleges and Schools of Liberal Arts and Sciences Director of Advising Cyri Dixon
• Dean of Students Jason Ramirez
• Associate Provost for Mission-Aligned Planning Vahe Bandarian

ASUU Academic Affairs Director Cameryn Coffey — the primary coordinator of ASUU town halls — started the event with general questions to administrators about the university’s newest class schedule policy. She then opened the floor to student and faculty participants to share their thoughts. 

Student concerns

The majority of the participants’ discontent revolved around the lack of student input in administration’s decision to change the schedule. 

Mecha member and student Benji Park referenced an ongoing petition to reverse the schedule change — which currently has 7,347 signatures — as an indicator for general discontent. 

“Through the petition and just the immediate response when students actually learned about this change, it’s clear that for the majority of students, this isn’t a positive change,” Park said. 

Math undergraduate and Mecha member Brenda Gaspar explained that the lack of communication with students was the reason for the policy’s backlash.

“It just seems like the input from students here was indirect,” she said. “You guys didn’t talk to us directly, so, the first time students learned about this information, it was through a blog post, and that reasonably upset students.” 

Others cited the decision’s impact on work schedules, as many rely on consistent class times to hold a stable job. Julio Irungaray, a graduate student and member of the United Campus Workers of the U, said that the change is a “worker’s issue.”

“The plan just extends the teaching day to fragment our schedules. It’s going to directly harm the research that we do, the grading, the life we have outside of work,” Irungaray said. “Are the staff that are going to be forced to work here more? Will they get more support?”

Montoya replied, saying there would be little change in the length of faculty working hours.  

Panel responses

Panelists repeatedly mentioned that the purpose of the decision was to increase classes students need for graduation, as often, general education courses are only offered at overlapping times. 

When making the decision to shift class schedules, panelists said they took waitlists and academic advisor opinions into consideration. However, Park said that advisors couldn’t give a holistic view of student experience, as they only report the “cases in which [the schedule] doesn’t work.”  

Montoya said that the administration wants to “preserve what’s working in the schedule” and “fix what’s not.”

“It’s unfortunate that a message was put out that created the perception that you all wouldn’t get the schedule that you needed, or that it was going to undo what was working for those of you for whom it was working,” Montoya said. 

Park followed up, asking if the student petition was based on the “misunderstanding” Montoya described. She concurred.

“The schedule wasn’t even open when students were signing a petition to undo something,” Montoya said. “So, now that the schedule is open, I would ask everyone here to look at the schedule and see if you were able to get what you need. So yes, people shared a reaction to a perceived problem before that schedule was even posted.”

Montoya added that the new class schedule actually offers more classes than the previous system, as it increases seating capacity and provides more options for class times. 

“This schedule doesn’t require anyone to do anything other than choose the schedule that works for you at the rate at which you want to complete your degree,” she said. 

Many students asked the panel if administration would be willing to halt operations in response to overwhelming student demand. Montoya and McDonald said no, that reducing barriers to student success is the “North Star of the institution.”

“We will not pause in trying to improve the student experience, whether it is access to courses or services or the quality and the overall employment of our campus because we can’t afford to pause,” McDonald said. “We will continue to engage the student input that we do have and strive to include more.”

Moving towards transparency and communication

Mecha member and student Chantal Irungaray said she was frustrated with the panelists’ lack of direct answers.  

“While I appreciate your answers, these are all really just fluff answers,” Irungaray said. “I don’t think you guys are giving us really any concrete steps that you are taking, like how you guys are incorporating our input, or next steps.”

While panelists reassured her that they were willing to work with her to improve her experience, she said she was “not looking” to work with any of them to solve the issue.

Tibby Pepper, a senior at the U, was moved to tears while she explained to the panel about how the schedule change lost her her dream TA job, saying that the situation could have been preventable if open communication was involved.

“Why aren’t you listening to us?” she said. “Please just get our input before making big decisions. Please.”

In response, Hagood said he would do what he can to ease the burden of transition on students.

“If your advisor can’t make it happen, I commit to you and any other student,” Hagood said. “If you cannot get through the academic advising process to get the schedule you need, I’ll open my schedule and work with any student who needs getting the schedule they need to be able to complete your degree at this great institution.”

Kohn offered his help, as well. “Going forward, I commit to doing everything I can to engage your voices,” he said. “Let me further add, a little prematurely, starting next month, I’ll have office hours on Fridays from noon to 1:30. I invite any of you or your colleagues to use that as a forum to help get your point across.” 

However, despite the intentions, students like Pepper said the way in which some panel members answered questions only increased the communication barrier between students and administration. 

“I think they had the same prescription answers for a lot of the different things … And there were no direct answers. It was just meandering the whole time,” Pepper said. “These people have a lot of power, and they can easily send out a survey or pause [the policy] for a second.”

A greater divide

Coffey, the ASUU member who has advocated for the establishment of a town hall since the ABC ticket’s 2025-26 presidential campaign, said the event was designed to promote open dialogue surrounding broader university issues. 

“I really wanted students to be able to have the space to speak, because how often do you get to speak directly to the person that caused the problem?” she said in an interview with The Chronicle. 

Coffey said that many panelists participated solely to hear student voices. “It was originally just going to be three panelists,” she said. “A lot of those people weren’t necessarily there to answer questions. They just wanted to be there to hear what students were feeling.”

Many present students agreed and felt that the town hall was a breakthrough for the university. Junior Mason McCann said that the university’s original Instagram post announcing the change was “poorly” worded, and that the open dialogue with administration helped ease some tensions. 

“[The town hall] did clear up a lot of the frustrations,” McCann said. “I do think administration could definitely be better about communicating with students, which they did address, which I do appreciate.”

Coffey said that she hopes administration will continue to participate in the monthly town halls, and that even though some students are still frustrated, administration now has a “better understanding” of the broader campus climate.  

“Even if you don’t think [the university] is going to be responsive in the sense that they’re going to change, they know now that students do not trust them and that they do not feel the love and care that they thought they had,” Coffey said. 

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