More than 100 Alcorn State University students took their message outside Tuesday after sensing administrators were not taking seriously their objections to a proposed new class scheduling format.

&#8220We’re protesting the fact that the students nor the faculty were told that this was going to happen,” said sophomore Jovonte Santos. &#8220It was pushed under the table.”

Santos is one of about 10 students allowed to speak at a scheduled faculty senate meeting at the Medgar Evers Auditorium of the J.D. Boyd Library at 12:30, where about 140 faculty and students attended to oppose the changes announced for fall.

Although Interim President Malvin Williams said nothing was finalized, the protest followed hours later and was a move to get answers from administrators.

It came on the Lorman campus as Institutions of Higher Learning officials in Jackson were presenting Utica native Dr. George Ross, vice president of finance and administration at Central Michigan University, as &#8220preferred candidate” for the president’s position at Alcorn.

Students yelled &#8220No block scheduling” and sang &#8220We Shall Overcome” as they marched from the Campus Welcome Center to the Walter Washington Administration and Classroom Building, followed by a caravan of 17 cars.

&#8220They wanted input, because it’s really them who will be affected,” said Lamar Swint, sociology professor.

Block scheduling fixes only certain times when core courses will be offered. The limitations would be hardest on students who commute to the 3,000-student university and on athletes, band members and others who now arrange their courses around practice times.

It was the suddenness of the change, however, that was also a factor in the dissent.

According to minutes from a March 8 meeting of department chairs, Dr. Napoleon Moses, vice president of academic affairs, set the requirement in fall and spring schedules for general education courses. All English composition courses, taken primarily by freshmen, would be offered between 1 and 3 p.m. Monday through Friday. History classes would only be offered between 3 and 5 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Courses would also have an enrollment of 50 to 75 students, called &#8220mega-sections,” that would result in fewer section offerings. Larger classes and fewer sections would also mean faculty reductions.

Santos said the way the schedule was formatted will not give freshmen the freedom they need.

&#8220It will put a lot of them in a bind – especially with extracurricular activities,” he said. &#8220It’s more like high school.”

Moses released a written statement that said his office is working with academic departments to make freshman and sophomore courses more available to students.

&#8220We will continue to improve our class scheduling so that our students have more options when they register for courses,” he said in the statement.

Murray Shugars, an assistant professor of English and director of the school’s writing center, said the schedule will also affect students who are nontraditional, commuting or those who transfer.

But, the primary concern, he added, is the fact that the decision was made without room for debate.

&#8220Apparently Dr. Moses pushed this thing through in 10 days,” he said. &#8220It has not been an open process.”

Swint, who was on campus during the protest, said Williams addressed the students.

&#8220He said this was the first he had heard of (the block schedule),” Swint said.

The Office of Academic Affairs &#8220has the authority to make academic decisions,” Williams said.

Williams added that he had scheduled a meeting today with Moses, who was to present his reason for the scheduling change.

&#8220Before anything is finalized, we will make sure every step is taken” to involve faculty and students and &#8220if we decide to implement it, it will be explained in full detail,” Williams said.

Swint said Moses was to address students at 12:30 today.

Alcorn State University is the first institution in Mississippi to make plans to implement block scheduling.

Ross will visit Alcorn State’s campus in Lorman on Monday for a series of interviews with faculty, staff, students, alumni and other school constituents. The College Board is expected to make his selection final next week.

If confirmed, the new president will succeed the late Dr. Clinton Bristow, who had been president of Alcorn for 11 years before dying of heart failure in August while jogging on the campus. Bristow was 57.