About 25 percent fewer people may be reading this than usual, but professors from across disciplines may not even notice that Spring Break has started early for some.
Many faculty noticed about one-quarter of their students were gone Thursday. Assuming they already left for Spring Break, many students, or more, will probably be gone again today.
“I can’t claim it was the weather now,” said Eduardo Castilla, teaching assistant for Spanish 1010, of the missing students in his 7:30 a.m. class.
K.B. Hom, who teaches intercultural communication, handed back midterms today and was able to identify who didn’t show up by the tests she still had.
“It’s interesting because they usually want their midterms back to see their grades before disappearing for a week,” she said.
Hom and others were perturbed by how few e-mails they received from students saying they would be leaving early.
“I do appreciate if they let me know,” she said. “We do a lot of group interaction, and there’s a group that relies on them for input.”
“Leaving messages and asking for homework shows engagement and interest,” Castille said.
Many professors, usually those teaching larger classes, said they didn’t notice fewer people.
Marina Starik, teaching assistant for French 1010, said nearly all her students were there yesterday.
“I was expecting no one to be there the day before the break,” she said.
Jerilyn Kuhre, teaching assistant for Spanish 1020, ensured her students would be in class by holding oral exams the last days of class.
Rob Jones, outdoor recreation program director, thinks a lot of teachers give big tests and projects in the last days before the break.
The Outdoor Recreation Program is usually swamped during Spring Break as students request spring and summer equipment as well as winter sports equipment, he said.
But very few rentals were made as of yesterday.
“Instructors pile it on the last few days, so they haven’t thought about going to play yet,” Jones said.