Non-traditional students seeking a bachelor’s degree at NIU simply by attending night school face an impossible challenge—it cannot be done.

The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences failed to schedule the necessary courses for students attending night school to obtain a degree. Foreign language courses for the bachelor of arts degree and mathematics courses for the bachelor of science degree are offered only during the daytime.

“It’s not under discussion right now,” said William Blair, chairman of the department of mathematics. However, Blair said that the mathematics department does rotate courses in the evenings from semester to semester.

Blair said this semester both the lecture and recitation sessions for Math 210 were available to students in the evening. Blair also said the department offered Math 229 in the late afternoon this semester.

“The university tells us to schedule a maximum of 67 percent of our classes during prime time hours,” said Joseph Grush, associate dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

Grush said NIU’s “prime time” hours run from 9 a.m. until 2:50 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and from 9:30 a.m. until 3:15 p.m. on Tuesday and Thursday.

Despite the fact that approximately one-third of the university’s schedule is outside prime time hours, NIU alumnus Joan Biebel said, “There’s not a single way you could earn your B.A. or your B.S. at NIU going to school at night.”

Biebel said various courses in foreign language and mathematics are offered at night, but don’t follow the necessary sequence for night school students to graduate without going to school during the day at some point in their education.

However, Frederic Murray, chairman of the NIU foreign language department, said there are good reasons why there are not courses offered during the night hours.

“This is done in part because it’s just not feasible to study a foreign language for three hours, one night a week,” he said.

Murray said in the past several years, courses in foreign language have been offered in the late afternoon.

“Night courses in the future could be a possibility. And the foreign language lab is open during the evening hours,” Murray said.

Murray said one of the problems facing the foreign language department is deciding which languages would be taught at night.

“After all, we do teach 15 different languages,” Murray said.

Murray also said once the foreign language department starts a sequence of night courses, they must stick to it for four semesters so students could graduate.