2008 Woodie Awards
Students have mixed emotions about extra day
Zeig opposes change, others see need for additional class
By: Angie Favot
Issue date: 2/11/08 Section: News
Student Government Association President Mike Zeig said he plans to oppose making April 24 a teaching day instead of the scheduled day off.
"This isn't about students trying to get out of class; this is about students saying there needs to be a process ahead of time to deal with class cancellations," the Sterling Heights senior said.
Administrators last week proposed the idea to add an extra day of classes because of recent snow days and the power outage, which hindered professors from maintaining their teaching schedules. April 24 is the Thursday before final exam week.
Zeig said there are two reasons he is opposed to the proposed schedule change.
"Many professors have already adjusted their course syllabus, so students have already had the extra burden of making up that work," he said. "The second thing is students have come to rely upon the semester calendar when making plans, so changing the semester calendar halfway through the semester makes it hard on students."
Moving large items out of residence halls the weekend before exam week is a mandate from Residence Life to avoid making noise during exam week, and Zeig argues this proposed schedule change also would disrupt that process.
Zeig said for the future, a policy should be created to outline a calendar change because of class cancellations.
"I think most students would support and agree with this because they would know ahead of time," he said.
The Academic Senate will meet on Feb. 19 to discuss the issue and will refer back to the administration and Faculty Association. The administration and Faculty Association are the only two parties capable of making the decision.
Atlanta sophomore Kasey Castanier said he would rather have classes on April 24 to have extra time for instruction since he has missed classes because of cancellations.
"If I'm paying, I expect to get as much out of that I can," he said. "We would be losing quite of bit of money if they don't give us something back for that."
"This isn't about students trying to get out of class; this is about students saying there needs to be a process ahead of time to deal with class cancellations," the Sterling Heights senior said.
Administrators last week proposed the idea to add an extra day of classes because of recent snow days and the power outage, which hindered professors from maintaining their teaching schedules. April 24 is the Thursday before final exam week.
Zeig said there are two reasons he is opposed to the proposed schedule change.
"Many professors have already adjusted their course syllabus, so students have already had the extra burden of making up that work," he said. "The second thing is students have come to rely upon the semester calendar when making plans, so changing the semester calendar halfway through the semester makes it hard on students."
Moving large items out of residence halls the weekend before exam week is a mandate from Residence Life to avoid making noise during exam week, and Zeig argues this proposed schedule change also would disrupt that process.
Zeig said for the future, a policy should be created to outline a calendar change because of class cancellations.
"I think most students would support and agree with this because they would know ahead of time," he said.
The Academic Senate will meet on Feb. 19 to discuss the issue and will refer back to the administration and Faculty Association. The administration and Faculty Association are the only two parties capable of making the decision.
Atlanta sophomore Kasey Castanier said he would rather have classes on April 24 to have extra time for instruction since he has missed classes because of cancellations.
"If I'm paying, I expect to get as much out of that I can," he said. "We would be losing quite of bit of money if they don't give us something back for that."
Viewing Comments 1 - 4 of 6
Nick Matthews
posted 2/11/08 @ 9:08 AM EST
Can CMU do this legally? Isn't the syllabus and master schedule essentially a contract with the students?
Chad Livengood
posted 2/11/08 @ 9:21 AM EST
Who are the "students" with "mixed emotions" in this article? Is this online version cut off? Because I see a one-source story.
And I've never known the Student Government President to speak for the entire student body, much less the SGA. (Continued…)
Luke Crossett
posted 2/11/08 @ 4:10 PM EST
The reason that they add extra days to the high school calender when class are cancelled is because by state law you have to attend so many days. Thats a ridiculous argument you're in college not high school. (Continued…)
Nick Smith
posted 2/13/08 @ 12:29 AM EST
Wow. When did college students become such jr. high/high school whiny little sissies? What a bunch of coddled little weaklings. Grow up. It's either that or having more material crammed into even shorter timeframe, thus allowing for even MORE pressure at the end of the semester. (Continued…)
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