Triumph or Trimonster?

The most obvious way to get more out of college students, teachers and school facilities is to banish the long, fallow summer vacation. The means for doing so is the "trimester" plan, by which the school year is divided into three terms of 14 weeks each, leaving only one month of summer vacation and turning out B.A. graduates in less than three years. The largest application of the trimester plan got under way last fall in Florida, where by order of the state legislature all four state campuses (enrollment: 31,030) adopted the new calendar. Now, with a year of trimester experience behind them, Florida's students and teachers are ready to report.

No Time for Research. Faculty members had the most legitimate complaints about the new system. The longer school year cuts deeply into their research work, which at most U.S. colleges is the key to advancement. Although Florida offered 20% more pay for teaching three trimesters instead of two semesters, many teachers would rather have had the extra vacation or moonlighting time. Since trimesters are shorter by two weeks than the old 1 6-week semesters, professors have had to tighten up their courses. The trend in examinations is away from penetrating essay questions to machine-graded objective tests.

Students quickly dubbed the new timetable "trimenster," found that it whittled away time for dating, extracurricular activities and lesson absorption. At Florida State University, one sophomore says: "I have a feeling of cramming rather than learning." Another student complained that he "had to read the Iliad in two nights." By taking a full load of courses each trimester, a student could graduate in as few as eight trimesters. But at the University of Florida, most students have gone the other way, cutting the average load from 15 1/2 credit hours to 14 1/2, while others attend only two trimesters out of three.

Another $10,000. But the trimester system is not all monster. In fact, it has achieved many of the goals it was designed to reach. "There's definitely a more serious attitude toward studying," says Robert Mautz, the University of Florida's dean of academic affairs.

"There are darned few Saturdays when you won't find the library comfortably full." Midweek dating and fraternity frivolities have diminished, and there j has even been a marked drop-off of inpatients at campus infirmaries. At ; both Florida and Florida State, grades have equaled or topped those under the semester system.

For all their grousing, many students appreciate the opportunity the trimester gives them to finish their education faster. Says one Florida State graduate engineering student: "We love it. It cuts a year off studying and gives us one more year of earning power. With a Ph.D.. that could mean another $10,000." As to the damage wrought by the trimester on campus social life, one Florida senior confessed: "The weekends haven't been hurt much. Most of us are going to have our weekends no matter what." The new system appears to be neither triumph nor trimonster.

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