Editorial: Movement of Gentle Friday does not make sense
Welcome back.
Central Michigan University did not have classes last Thursday and Friday. Most students will not complain about a long weekend and a few extra days off.
Neither will we.
But last week’s extra days off come at a cost we feel is too high.
If you haven’t heard — and many students haven’t — classes this semester will run through the week before examination week — including Thursday and Friday.
CMU moved the commonly known “Gentle Friday” to last week. The “reading days” you used for last minute studying or work on semester-long projects have been moved to the last week of March.
University officials explained the move as an attempt to better align the Isabella and Gratiot County Public Schools’ Spring Break. It provided time off for faculty and staff with children in those districts.
We feel the justification for the move is weak. This action affects CMU students negatively.
Having “reading days” anywhere else besides the Thursday and Friday before finals week does a disservice to students — the opinions of whom should matter more while making this type of change.
Chuck Mahone, president of the student government association, said when the decision was made three years ago, faculty did not contact student body representatives.
Students used these two days to catch up on a type of studying that is only possible right before exams, not halfway through the semester.
Senior students in capstone courses and other project-based classes depend on those extra days to focus solely on last-minute tweaks and fine-tuning to their work finished.
Upperclassmen have become accustomed to having those days right before finals off. Gentle Friday has been standard since the 1970s.
Taking those days off away gives students more of the last and second to last thing they need the week before finals — more stress and less time to get things done.
CMU students do not need more time off in March. Spring break was two weeks ago.
If CMU officials think students are going to start studying for finals now, they are mistaken. There is still a month left in the semester. Final projects and lessons for cumulative examinations have not been covered in many classes.
The idea of giving faculty and staff time off from work while high school students are on spring break is based on a flawed premise. Those children have been on spring break all week. Why not move CMU’s spring break to coincide with the high schools if accommodating to staff is the goal?
Taking crucial reading days away from students is not a good solution.
We appreciated the extra time off last week.
But when that last week of classes arrives, CMU students will now have to brace themselves for a two-week period that the university has made less than gentle.
