As students at the University of Winnipeg approach the most hectic period of the academic year, some are calling current university operating hours “ridiculous,” suggesting that the campus should be made more accessible to hard-working students.

“They should be open later,” said Farid Stanekzai, a 25-year-old politics student at the U of W.

On weekends, Stanekzai works as an accountant for Western Union, leaving only evenings to work on assignments and study for his many exams.

“We need to be in an academic environment to focus on our research and our studies,” he said. “It’s ridiculous.”

The University of Winnipeg main campus is open from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily. However, the only entrances consistently accessible during that entire time are the West and East Centennial Hall doors, which face Portage Avenue.

The rest of the entrances, at Balmoral Street, Spence Street and Ellice Avenue, are closed at various times in the evening, commonly at or before 9 p.m. 

The majority of those entrances are closed entirely during the weekend.

Meanwhile, the library, often accessed by students looking for a quiet place to conduct research, is open from 8 a.m. to 10:45 p.m. Monday through Thursday.

On Friday, the library is open from 8 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. On Saturday and Sunday, it is only open from noon until 4:45 p.m.

“A lot of people want to study on Sundays,” said Andri Shchudlo, 22, another politics student with a part-time day job.

“I think that a lot of students, especially those that live close by, could make use of the library if it was open later,” he added.

Jane Duffy, dean of the U of W library, said that the library is accessed 75 per cent less on the weekend and that “the library’s web-based services including databases, interactive FAQs and subject guides ... are available 24 hours per day, seven days per week.”

“ We need to be in an academic environment to focus on our research and our studies.

Farid Stanekzai, U of W student

Eliakim Sibanda, a history professor at the University of Winnipeg, believes that the library should be open much later, improving accessibility for students with part-time jobs and busy schedules.

“My own thinking is that the library shouldn’t be closing at 10:45 at all,” he said. “The earliest they should be closing, in terms of checking out books, is midnight.”

Sibanda believes that past midnight, the library should be kept open for another two hours exclusively for students who want to study and look at reference material without checking out any books. The operating hours should be consistently applicable, seven days a week.

He added that the entrances outside of Centennial Hall should also be open until midnight.

“As long as we still have security on campus I don’t see any reason why people should be restricted to come into the building,” he said, adding that the main campus should be accessible 24/7 from the Centennial entrance.

According to an email sent by Diane Poulin, U of W director of communications, the university locks certain entrances from the outside for “security reasons.”

What about exam time?

During the exam period, which begins shortly after lectures officially end on April 5, the university is technically open to students 24/7.

However, students who wish to study past 11 p.m. are confined to Riddell Hall and, courtesy of the University of Winnipeg Students Association (UWSA), the Bulman Centre.

If students leave the campus, they are required to sign out with security, providing their name and student number.

They cannot access any other part of the campus during that time because of limited security personnel and “in the event that the campus had to evacuate, it is better to have everyone in one area,” said Poulin.

Lauren Bosc, the newly elected president of the UWSA, believes that 24-hour access to the Bulman Centre is a valued service for many students.

However, she is open to negotiating improvements to accessibility.

“Our 24-hour study period ... is utilized by a handful of students to get their studying and work done,” she said.

“(However), if students are calling for every nook and cranny of the university to be open and accessible 24 hours, that is definitely something that should be looked into.”