Being a first course I think it would be unwise to shorten it. It's hard enough as it is in the short time to get used to it and pass. I'm sure it would have a negative effect for some students on the courses.
I did Procedural in 5 weeks as I was the only one on the course and damn, that got mad. It was lucky that I didn't have any problems as 4 sim runs a day is quite tough!!
sp.