Breaking it down

University must consider fall break for the good of student body

The Undergraduate Student Government is trying to give students a break -- literally. USG has formed a committee to explore the options in adding a fall break to the academic calendar.

It makes sense, with 13 weeks of instruction time between the first day of fall classes and Thanksgiving, students find themselves stressed and unmotivated by the end of the semester. Committee members pointed out that if we have a spring break on the calendar, why not one in the fall?

"It makes sense, with 13 weeks of instruction time between the first day of fall classes and Thanksgiving, students find themselves stressed and unmotivated by the end of the semester."

It's not exactly a brand new idea, but a change like this will take some time to catch on. John Romano, vice provost and Dean for Enrollment Management and Administration, said the University plans its calendar out years in advance, however, he admitted it would not be impossible to make a change.

Students at another Big Ten University, Purdue University, asked for a fall break a few years ago, and got it. This year, Purdue's classes recessed from Oct. 11 to 15. An official in Purdue's Office of the Registrar said there was little opposition to the break when the office added it to the calendar a number of years ago. After all, faculty and staff like some time off, too.

The USG committee members said they are not sure exactly when the break will fall, or how to make up the lost instruction time. One suggestion was to start classes a week earlier in August and offer a week-long October break. The better suggestion was to start classes in August on a Monday instead of a Wednesday, and offer an extended weekend in mid-October. By doing it this way, the earlier start time of only two days will not severely cut into summer work and vacation schedules.

The committee has suggested circulating a petition to all University campuses to help gather student support. It will be hard pressed to find someone who won't sign the petition.

Then, the committee must work its way through the red tape that is the University's administration, but comments like Romano's are testament that some of the higher-ups are willing to listen and try to make this change work.

The logistics will take some working out, but USG should continue to work hard for this until it accomplishes the goal. If it doesn't pass with the first try, USG should keep working until it finds a way.

Students have been calling for USG to do something, anything, lately -- for us. This is the chance to prove to students that USG does hold some influence and can make changes that students will actually see.