A Broad Education More Narrowly Defined

My first full-time teaching schedule was a four course, Monday-Wednesday-Friday schedule where I taught my first class at 9AM and my last class (a once a week graduate course ) ended shortly after 8 PM.  For as long as I was a full time faculty member, my schedule was virtually identical.  Only once did I complain to my department chair about my schedule – in my second year he presented me with a schedule that started at 8 AM and ended (one day a week) at 11PM.  I thought the hours were unreasonable and he agreed and modified it back to the way it had always looked.  My courses during those early years were filled regardless of the time. Many students, especially those who worked in addition to going to school, favored early classes or late classes and consequently almost every time slot had a robust enrollment.  The expectation was clear that as a faculty member I would be teaching an evening class virtually every semester and a relatively early morning class as well.