HÂş»­

 

Fall refresher

- January 27, 2010

HÂş»­ students will get a day off from classes starting in the fall.

HÂş»­ students will get an extra day off from classes next fall.

The HÂş»­ Senate has approved a “Fall Study Day,â€� to take place this year on Friday, November 12. With a holiday on November 11, Remembrance Day, the extra day off provides for a four-day weekend in November.

But it's only for students. The university will remain open.

“The intention is to give students a chance to catch up,â€� says Rob LeForte, vice president (education) for the HÂş»­ Student Union. “It’s the ‘pinch’ time of year—students are getting their midterms back and a lot of assignments are piling up … so this is a day to study or catch up if you need to.â€�

The DSU brought the proposal for a fall study day to the Senate Committee on Academic Administration, which also saw merit in the idea.

“It’s exactly that, a chance for students to catch their breath,� says Alan Shaver, vice president academic and provost. “That first term especially can be challenging for students who are new to the university experience having come from high school.�

The day off from classes is in addition to Munro Day, a university-wide holiday scheduled for the first Friday in February, and winter study break, this year falling from February 22 to February 26.

The University of Ottawa has opted to schedule a full week off of classes in the fall of 2010, instead of just one day. Trent University in Peterborough has had a fall reading week—officially “Residential Reading and Laboratory Week�— for many years.

Dr. Shaver says scheduling a full week off from classes in the fall would be more difficult to arrange while maintaining the full number of teaching days in the term.