When Mel Zimmerman decided to upgrade his skills, he never thought he would be going to class after going out to the bar.

Yet, for the mature Weekend University student at the University of Calgary, that’s what happened.

“I travelled to Perth, Australia, and Jakarta, Indonesia, for an extended business trip of five weeks,” he explains. Rather than miss five lectures, the instructor arranged for video conferencing with what Zimmerman admits were some rather unusual results.

The time difference meant the regular 8 a.m. to noon class in Calgary ran from 11 p.m. to 3 a.m. in Australia.

“I recall one day in Perth on a hot summer day . . . when I didn’t study,” he said.

“I spent much of the day in the sun, the evening in a pub, only to rush off to my 11-to-3 class. It was all I could do not to fall asleep.”

Zimmerman managed to stay awake. Taking one or two courses a semester for the last four years, the human resources manager recently completed the requirements for a Bachelor of General Studies degree.

“It was a personal challenge, an unfulfilled undertaking,” asserts Zimmerman, who first attended the University of Calgary as an undergraduate student in 1970.

Leaving his studies behind after only a year, the successful manager said the need to finally finish his degree was always there.

“I really do believe that there is so much change in business at large, let alone all the components of it, that we all need to sharpen our tools and learn how to use new tools on an ongoing basis.”

Weekend U caters to working professionals like Zimmerman who would like to obtain a university degree without taking time away from work. The course standards and requirements are the same as any U of C program.

However, according to administrators, the benefits may be far greater.

“In terms of career expansion, we know that possession of a university degree can open doors for people so, in that pragmatic sense, we are contributing to career development,” said Weekend University academic co-ordinator Margo Husby Scheelar.

“In a deeper, and to me far more important way, we are contributing to life-long learning and providing an opportunity for people to explore ideas and topics of interest unrelated to work.”

For those who take the courses for work, Weekend U may be one of the few ways for them to upgrade their skills.

After working a full day, Zimmerman said night courses would have been out of the question.

“For me, that would have been much harder,” he explains.

“My energy level is just about shot long before lectures that end at 9 or 9:30 in the evening.”

That is not to say Weekend U only takes the weekend. Course work, research and studying often require a fair bit of time not only on the weekend, but during the week as well.

. Balancing courses with full-time work isn’t easy. It is, however, fast becoming a reality in our increasingly knowledge-based world.

U of C administrators say higher education’s “increased flexibility is an absolute requirement in business these days.”

This year alone, more than 2,000 people are enrolled in weekend courses at the U of C. The five-year-old program offers degrees from the Faculty of Communication and Culture. Starting next fall, a minor in English will also be offered.

Internet and online learning will also soon be a possibility, as long as course content isn’t compromised.

“I expect the adult, part-time student will be the primary utilizer of this service and I look forward to seeing it in practice,” Husby Scheelar said.

No date has yet been set for the launch of online courses for the Weekend U program. Administrators, however, are aware that there is a demand for different, and even more flexible, ways of learning.

“The needs of the institution have to be secondary to those of the students, and if we can retain that focus in the midst of bureaucracy and technological homogeneity, we will contribute something far greater than mere knowledge. We will contribute life — that’s the goal of Weekend U,” said Husby Scheelar.

For Zimmerman, Weekend U meant the realization of a life-long goal. “The undergraduate degree will be my ‘piece of entry’ and the next step at feeding my new-found appetite for my own continuous learning,” Zimmerman said.

“Beyond the late Saturday nights, it was absolutely worth it.”