Ohio State Moves To Semester System

It's taken three years, special committees and Web sites, and meetings packed with critics, but Ohio State University is finally set to join the vast majority of colleges by converting to academic semesters. OSU Undergraduate Student Government President Taylor Stepp says the biggest challenges include teaching students how to schedule classes in the new system, and a new requirement that all students take a Friday class. Under the quarter system, many OSU classes are offered just twice a week for a total of five credit hours. Semester systems have students attend shorter classes more frequently. The switch to semesters also means OSU will be doing away with its well-known system of bells. OSU is one of the few universities that still uses bells to mark the beginning and end of classes at 18 minutes and 30 minutes past every hour. University officials say class start and end times will change under the semester system, so standardized bells would be confusing. Click the play button above to hear an extended conversation with USG President Taylor Stepp about the challenges and benefits of switching to semesters.