Midweek game, does it help, hurt or not affect attendance?

[MarkL]

My experience at BG with profs and games was all around good. If I arranged a week or so ahead of time, turned work in early, arranged to get notes either from the prof or from a friend, they were always fine. For the Miami game in 2005 (the kick-ass one!), I got permission to miss both of my classes that day, given that my work for the day was turned in by noon and that I was responsible for material covered. So ... in a nutshell ... anybody with evening Thursday classes should be fine as long as they are pro-active in the situation and work with the prof.

[Ydfalcon]

I think in the end, any differences may come out in the wash. You might get some students who have late night class they don't want to miss, and some people who can't make it due to being out of town and having work that day and the next, but also, I would bet there are some students and people in BG who might have skipped a live BG game to watch OSU on tv who won't have that conflict now and will come out to the game. But I do think that early season games when there's a lot of excitement around the program like this one, it won't make too big of a difference either way. Obviously last year, late into the season, however... having some weekday games made it a lot less appealing for people to come out.

[professorjackson]

Let's not combine three very different things: allowing students to miss class for a football game; a professor being a jackass about a student missing class for a funeral; and, final exam policies. I really don't think an administrator would take the side of a student against a professor who mandated attendance even though there was a football game.

That all being said, I don't have any attendance policies at all. Students should be allowed to make their own decisions about attending class, and why would I want a room full of surly people who don't want to be there?

[NWLB]

I think it gets down to an instructor knowing there is a game, and going out of their way to make it painful for people who might have want and reason to attend it. I often had extra curricular activities which centered around such games. There were frequent and useful chances to network locally and otherwise before and after such games. In week two of a sixteen week semester, if somebody is going out of their way to express their personal dislike for athletics by way of pop-exams, it is petty if still defensible. On strict grounds of right and wrong, he is within his rights. And life isn't always fair.

I think it is appropriate to let students, within reason, attend as they see fit. It also isn't unfair to make clear there are penalties in doing so to excess. I rarely missed class, save for illness, and the occasional bus trip. Plus, being a history major as I was, doing so was like missing an episode of a favorite TV show.

Odds are the class in question will have ample empty seats anyway, and the attendance issue is more of a bluff to prevent more.

[JH5]

I think there isn't a clear answer to this and it would be pretty hard to test this unless there was a really big difference, which I don't think there is.

You have your three main groups of students: those who always come to the games, those who are in the middle and decide based on any other criteria, and those who don't ever go to the games.

IMO those students in the middle will look at more important criteria (like quality of the team and/or opponent, weather, timing of the game) rather than the actual day of the game. For example, I don't think there would be a huge difference if this game was on Saturday instead of Thursday because it is the first game of the year and the season still has a ton of hope. Or another example would be the Boise game.. I don't think it would matter if that were on a Thursday or Saturday, the attendance would still be the same or very close.

You could probably argue that some students have more to do on a Thursday rather than a Saturday but I think that the 7pm start time kind of eliminates that. And I'm sure that some students would use the game as a reason to skip class.

Granted, I'm one of those students who goes to the games as much as I can so I might be a little biased.


One thing I will add to this discussion though is that (and another poster said this) the freshman this year really seem to be excited about the football team, moreso than I've seen in the previous two years combined. It has really surprised me and I think that if the team has a lot of success early (like a 4-0 start dare I say) than this year will be special because they will have the support of the student body.

[hammb]

It has really surprised me and I think that if the team has a lot of success early (like a 4-0 start dare I say) than this year will be special because they will have the support of the student body.

If we start the season 4-0, I'm grilling Lobster for our tailgate on 10/3.

[Pete Segaard]

It has really surprised me and I think that if the team has a lot of success early (like a 4-0 start dare I say) than this year will be special because they will have the support of the student body.

If we start the season 4-0, I'm grilling Lobster for our tailgate on 10/3.

If we start the season 4-0, I would be happy to bring clarified butter and bibs to your ritzy azzed tailgate.

[FortWayneFalcon]

It has really surprised me and I think that if the team has a lot of success early (like a 4-0 start dare I say) than this year will be special because they will have the support of the student body.

If we start the season 4-0, I'm grilling Lobster for our tailgate on 10/3.

If we start the season 4-0, I would be happy to bring clarified butter and bibs to your ritzy azzed tailgate.

I'm traveling to New Hampshire tomorrow for work. How many are you going to need? Credit cards accepted.

[TG1996]

I think it works well for the opener. It's the first "big" college event for the freshmen and putting it on a Thursday gives them reason to be there, instead of heading home for the weekend and missing a Saturday game. For the upperclassmen, it provides a perfect early start to the weekend and Thursday night festivities, still leaving ample time to take advantage of the freshmen that night at Uptown.

[Strouse]

One thing I will add to this discussion though is that (and another poster said this) the freshman this year really seem to be excited about the football team, moreso than I've seen in the previous two years combined. It has really surprised me and I think that if the team has a lot of success early (like a 4-0 start dare I say) than this year will be special because they will have the support of the student body.

Most likely the biggest reason for the freshmen to be so excited for this game is the fact that they had that Freshmen Welcome Convocation thing in the Doyt which showed them that it isn't that hard to get there. Hopefully they'll use the shuttle busses to get students to the game like they did for the Freshmen Convocation.

[professorjackson]

I'm teaching our department's stats/research methods class and had them answer a little survey where I could produce a crosstab on sex and whether they plan to go to the game Thursday. There was a VERY clear relationship: 0% of the women said they were going whereas 38% of the men said they were. Hard to generalize to the whole campus, but thought I'd throw it out there. There were only 21 students in the class.

[FortWayneFalcon]

Immediately after this game time was announced I put in my vacation request for Thursday afternoon and Friday. I love the way this is extending my holiday weekend. As for students, I find it hard to believe that very many that want to be there will have a hard time putting it in there schedules. This does seem like the best scenario for student attendance for this particular weekend.

[daspollak]

My experience at BG with profs and games was all around good. If I arranged a week or so ahead of time, turned work in early, arranged to get notes either from the prof or from a friend, they were always fine. For the Miami game in 2005 (the kick-ass one!), I got permission to miss both of my classes that day, given that my work for the day was turned in by noon and that I was responsible for material covered. So ... in a nutshell ... anybody with evening Thursday classes should be fine as long as they are pro-active in the situation and work with the prof.

I remember that game well in 2005 in Oxford. BG fans out numbered the home side who were too scared to get their polo shirts and designer jeans wet. Heck the punter was scared of the ball a couple of times too, but I digress. The Thursday night game may be bad for alumni, but for students its no big deal. Most students who would go to the game will still go, and you may gain a few who would have left Friday afternoon to go home for Labor Day. (I am with most of you for why anyone would do that) I hope BG can get off to a good start and get the fan base excited. Here is to a good year of Falcon Football.

[Sidejudge]

I think a compromise is in order. For those in the evening classes gather in a tent near the stadium, flaps down so as not to disturb others who are prepping for the game, then after about 50 minutes do a field trip to the football field and sit in the stands as they normally would in the class room so the Prof can take accurate attendance. THe lecture can go on in earnest with the Prof yelling at the top of his/her voice during the first half, conclude at the end of half time, sit back and grade papers of the faithful students in attendance the second half. No one misses classes and no one misses the game and no one misses what the Prof is teaching. Everyone wins here!

Sign me up to be the line leader!

Roll Falcons!

[NWLB]

I'm teaching our department's stats/research methods class and had them answer a little survey where I could produce a crosstab on sex and whether they plan to go to the game Thursday. There was a VERY clear relationship: 0% of the women said they were going whereas 38% of the men said they were. Hard to generalize to the whole campus, but thought I'd throw it out there. There were only 21 students in the class.

What percentage of stats are wrong what percentage of the time?