The Academic Senate has approved a new fall calendar that will go into effect during the 2007-2008 school year. Changes to the calendar include starting the semester on a Monday, the elimination of reading day, and a week long Fall Break to divide the first and second sessions.
University officials said the proposal to change the fall schedule stemmed from faculty and students who were dissatisfied with the current system.
While this may be true, it seems unlikely that students were scrambling for the change. Though most students are reacting positively to the new calendar, few of them are saying, “Finally! I’ve been waiting for this for years!”
Why is it that issues students are legitimately concerned about (the recreation center, a hard-waiver for health insurance, etc.) always seem to be decided in drawn-out processes in which students’ desires may or may not be taken into account, while issues of whether or not to extend Fall Break to a full week manage to sail through the various channels of the university?
Responses to this change seem to be positive, though there are obviously a few drawbacks to the plan.
But really, the point isn’t that students seem to like these changes, or even that this is ultimately a fairly benign plan.
The point is that when students really need their issues addressed, they find themselves getting the run-around, at the same time the U is changing the academic calendar, even though the current system is working just fine.
This issue is one we run into every winter when the Utah Legislature goes into session. This year, Utahns named education their number one priority in more than one poll-but education-related topics were pushed aside in favor of legislators addressing issues on their own agendas.
In the Legislature, this side-stepping led to increased tuition for higher education, among other things.
At the U, the changes to the academic calendar are unlikely to harm any students-but why couldn’t issues of greater concern have been addressed instead?
Bodies like the Academic Senate should spend more energy addressing topics that affect the average student on a day-to-day basis-not debating the pros and cons a shorter Winter Break and the whether or not to add a day to Thanksgiving Break.