Student Body President Bobby Mills has been working to get rid of 8:05 a.m. classes, having the earliest classes begin at 8:30 a.m.

Registration and Calendar is reviewing this proposal, which Mills and Louis Hunt, University registrar, developed. A decision should be made by the end of the semester to take effect as late as fall 2009.

“[Delaying early classes] is more accommodating for students,” Mills, a junior in political science, said. “When we looked at it, Duke [University] switched from 8 a.m. start times to 8:30 start times. They were trying to find more efficient room of classroom spaces.”

According to Mills, when Duke had 8 a.m. class start times, it only had 13 courses offered at that time, but the next year when classes started at 8:30 a.m., it had over 300 course offerings at that time.

“At 8:30, [students] are more likely to sign up for it, and the demand was there,” Mills said.

Sabina Ferhatovic, a senior in psychology, said she doesn’t think the change in class times will make that great of an impact on the University.

“Maybe psychologically it will have an impact, but I don’t think it makes a difference,” Ferhatovic said. “Twenty-five minutes up or down, I don’t think it really makes a difference.”

Mills said most college students go to sleep later than the general public, and that 30 minutes could make somewhat of a difference.

He said it also helps alleviate traffic because most people go work from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m.

Ferhatovic said although she does not commute, changing the start times for that reason does make sense.

“If I had a choice between 8 and 8:30, I would probably choose the 8:30,” she said.

According to Mills, having an 8:30 a.m. start time will help synchronize all courses on campus, adding more 75-minute classes.

But John Mickey, junior in business management, said that may not necessarily be the best idea.

“I’ve always enjoyed my 50-minute classes more than my 75-minute classes,” Mickey said. “I don’t think students would be really excited about that. I could be wrong, but some students just don’t care whether or not they have class on Fridays.”

He said as students work toward their junior and senior years, most of their classes are only twice a week anyway.

“It makes sense to have 50-minute classes. Maybe it helps people get used to things in college,” Mickey said.

According to Mills, by 2017, the University is estimated to have 40,000 students, and Mills said having the 8:30 a.m. classes will help with enrollment.

Mills said the peak times for classes currently are Mondays through Thursdays, 10:15 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

“Changing the starting times will help that because you’ll be adding enrollment in the early classes,” Mills said.

With the 8:30 a.m. classes offered, he said, students will be more inclined to register for those, deterring other negatives.

“It will help us avoid those raggedy things — more trailers,” Mills said.

The University, Mills said, needs to fill up as many classrooms as possible.

“Some courses [now] start at 8 [a.m.] but not 8:30 [a.m.], and students don’t have the option to choose between the two,” he said.

Mickey disagreed.

“Students equate 8:05 and 8:30 the same. That’s what I’ve done normally,” Mickey said. “As long as it has an 8 in front of it, I don’t think it makes it that much of a difference.”