To help with rising fuel costs, J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College will allow students to take classes on Fridays only and still earn a full load of credits for the semester.

Students participating in the Fuel $mart Friday program will be able to attend classes from 8 a.m. to 9:50 p.m. on Fridays at the Parham Road campus when the fall semester begins next month.

School officials estimate that having to drive to campus just one day a week would save a student more than $1,000 in gas and vehicle costs next semester.

That's based on the average student commuting 20 miles daily to get to campus. The pilot program will allow students to drive 1,280 fewer miles over a 16-week semester.

Students participating in the program also can take advantage of additional tutors and expanded bookstore hours.

"We're still thinking about the things students might need," said Nannette Smith, associate vice president for academic affairs.

For example, she said the bookstore will pull the books that Friday-only students need so they won't have to stand in long lines.

"They'll need to get things accomplished very quickly," she said.

Smith said the program, which will begin Aug. 29, was patterned after one offered by a community college in Tennessee.

She said the courses being offered are general-education requirements that are core for any curriculum.

"It's aimed at our entire student population," she said. The number of sections for each course will be expanded if necessary to accommodate students wishing to take part in the program.

Under the program, students can take up to four courses, which would give them full-time status with 12 credit hours for the semester.

The schedule has lunch and dinner breaks built in, and a catered meal from the School of Culinary Arts can be ordered for dinner.

Courses in math, history, English, art, psychology and introductory technology will be offered.

Although the program was designed to help with gas costs, it would also help with scheduling for students who work or need child care, school spokesman Steve Vehorn said.

The school also will offer the program next spring. It then will assess how many students have signed up before determining how to proceed.

For a list of courses offered under the program, visit www.reynolds.edu.
Contact Karin Kapsidelis at (804) 649-6119 or kkapsidelis@timesdispatch.com.