Everyone who knows about Blackburn College also knows about the work program, and every student quickly learns just how stressful it is – especially this year’s new students. The work program requires a total of 160 hours. That is equivalent to about 10 hours per week each semester.
In the 16 weeks that make up each semester there are 112 days, however, some departments are not open on weekends which makes workers only have around 80 days to complete their required 160 hours for the work program. This essentially breaks down to two hours per weekday. While this can be fairly manageable for some, I have found it very stressful as I try and balance two sports as well as the work program and classes. To make matters worse, this year, Blackburn has added a professional development program dealing with a variety of topics including diversity, resume building and interview skills. It also requires all freshmen and transfer students to complete an additional 16 hours per semester, making the required number of hours for them 176, compared to the 160 for other students.
While the idea of the professional development program was well-intended, as it attempts to prepare students further for the workplace after graduation, the courses are repetitive and their scheduled times are more convenient for the person running the course rather than the students, especially athletes. The offered program opportunities are almost always around the same time during the school day, which is impossible to attend if you have a class during it. Alternate times are given as an option, but if you are an athlete with practices and games, these times often don’t work either.
The best solution, if the professional development program remains a requirement, is to allow for more alternative courses online. The program had five options online last semester. I think that it would be fairly easy for a powerpoint, followed by a short quiz, to be placed on Moodle so students who are unable to attend may still be able to obtain the information. Regardless of the solution that is chosen, a decision needs to be reached quickly in hopes of reducing some of the stress many students feel revolving around the work program.