Fall semester needs better breaks
University community should discuss possible improvements to fall break system
Issue date: 11/20/08 Section: Perspective
Imagine you visit your doctor because you're very stressed out. Your doctor presses his stethoscope to your back and tells you to take a deep breath. You begin to breathe, and it feels really good just to relax for a moment.
But then, when your lungs are only half full, your doctor suddenly tells you to exhale quickly and starts talking about all the things you need to be doing.
Now you're more stressed than before, and a little confused to boot. But your doctor tells you again to take a deep breath, so you give it another try. This time he lets you inhale a little deeper, but again makes you exhale quickly and begins telling all the things you need to do.
You would probably decide its time to find a new doctor.
At Eastern, spring break is a glorious time of year when students get to unload for a full week, regroup and come back ready to go another eight weeks.
But the fall semester is a completely different story. Two days for fall break and three days for Thanksgiving means students barely have time to realize they're on a break, let alone enjoy it. By the time students have decompressed it's already time to go back to class.
Students tend to lead very busy lives; after all, we are all trying to simultaneously stay afloat in the real world while setting aside time for our studies. We need time-a substantial chunk of time-to relax, or even just catch up in other areas of our lives.
Two or three days is enough time for us to recoil from our college work, but not enough for us to feel rejuvenated and want to come back.
In a way, fall break is like giving a man dying of thirst a shot glass of Aqua Fina. It may postpone his death by a few moments, but in the end he's still going to die of dehydration.
Faculty members deserve a full-sized break too. Fall syllabi have to take into account that parts of weeks will be missing, rather than the much simpler format of a solid week off in the middle during the spring semester. And faculty members' schedules can be just as hectic as students', making them just as in need of a chance to catch their breath.
The Progress thinks the fall semester should be handled differently. There are lots of different possible solutions, and we're not about to select one and kick all the others to the curb. If any actual changes are made to the fall semester breaks, they should be changes that have been discussed in-depth and agreed upon by all the different segments of Eastern's community.
The Progress wants to get the ball rolling and start a discussion about how the fall semester's breaks could be handled better in future years. To that end, here are a few rough ideas.
1. Combine fall break and Thanksgiving break to create a five-day break over Thanksgiving.
The good: Gives students and faculty a full week to recuperate. Everyone has more time over a holiday where extended families traditionally get together.
The bad: Thanksgiving isn't until three weeks before the end of the semester. Waiting that long for any kind of break just might do in a lot of people.
2. Start the semester two days earlier, then extend Thanksgiving break to a full week.
The good: Everyone gets a full week for Thanksgiving and fall break still provides a momentary peace in the middle of the semester.
The bad: Fall break would still be bordering on an annoyance rather than an actual break. Thanksgiving is so close to the end of the semester that a full week off could seriously disorient students and faculty who are already leaning towards the finish line.
3. Start the semester three days earlier, then extend fall break to a full week.
The good: A full week in the middle of the semester, just like in the spring semester.
The bad: Three days earlier could mess up New Student Days activities or cut into the faculty's break between summer and fall semesters.
4. Start the semester a week earlier, then extend fall break and Thanksgiving break to full weeks.
The good: Two full weeks could mean better-rested students and faculty.
The bad: Starting so early would almost certainly affect faculty's downtime between the summer and fall. The semester would be spread over a longer period of time, which could counteract any anti-fatigue effect of longer breaks. So much down time could make the whole semester feel very disjointed-grades could suffer as a result.
5. Don't add any extra class days, and just cut out class days over fall break.
The good: None of the problems associated with starting the semester earlier, with all the benefits of a full fall break in the middle of the semester.
The bad: Fewer class days would mean less time for faculty members to teach and students to learn. Teachers would have to either squeeze everything into less time, or teach less overall.
6. Have a week-long "working" fall break, where no classes are held but teachers are allowed or expected to assign out-of-class homework assignments due after the break.
The good: Solves the problem of losing class days to a longer break and still lets everyone get away-at least from the classroom-for a whole week.
The bad: Having homework over the break could ruin it for students. Having large amounts of grading to do after the break would almost certainly ruin it for faculty members.
Progress editorial opinion
But then, when your lungs are only half full, your doctor suddenly tells you to exhale quickly and starts talking about all the things you need to be doing.
Now you're more stressed than before, and a little confused to boot. But your doctor tells you again to take a deep breath, so you give it another try. This time he lets you inhale a little deeper, but again makes you exhale quickly and begins telling all the things you need to do.
You would probably decide its time to find a new doctor.
At Eastern, spring break is a glorious time of year when students get to unload for a full week, regroup and come back ready to go another eight weeks.
But the fall semester is a completely different story. Two days for fall break and three days for Thanksgiving means students barely have time to realize they're on a break, let alone enjoy it. By the time students have decompressed it's already time to go back to class.
Students tend to lead very busy lives; after all, we are all trying to simultaneously stay afloat in the real world while setting aside time for our studies. We need time-a substantial chunk of time-to relax, or even just catch up in other areas of our lives.
Two or three days is enough time for us to recoil from our college work, but not enough for us to feel rejuvenated and want to come back.
In a way, fall break is like giving a man dying of thirst a shot glass of Aqua Fina. It may postpone his death by a few moments, but in the end he's still going to die of dehydration.
Faculty members deserve a full-sized break too. Fall syllabi have to take into account that parts of weeks will be missing, rather than the much simpler format of a solid week off in the middle during the spring semester. And faculty members' schedules can be just as hectic as students', making them just as in need of a chance to catch their breath.
The Progress thinks the fall semester should be handled differently. There are lots of different possible solutions, and we're not about to select one and kick all the others to the curb. If any actual changes are made to the fall semester breaks, they should be changes that have been discussed in-depth and agreed upon by all the different segments of Eastern's community.
The Progress wants to get the ball rolling and start a discussion about how the fall semester's breaks could be handled better in future years. To that end, here are a few rough ideas.
1. Combine fall break and Thanksgiving break to create a five-day break over Thanksgiving.
The good: Gives students and faculty a full week to recuperate. Everyone has more time over a holiday where extended families traditionally get together.
The bad: Thanksgiving isn't until three weeks before the end of the semester. Waiting that long for any kind of break just might do in a lot of people.
2. Start the semester two days earlier, then extend Thanksgiving break to a full week.
The good: Everyone gets a full week for Thanksgiving and fall break still provides a momentary peace in the middle of the semester.
The bad: Fall break would still be bordering on an annoyance rather than an actual break. Thanksgiving is so close to the end of the semester that a full week off could seriously disorient students and faculty who are already leaning towards the finish line.
3. Start the semester three days earlier, then extend fall break to a full week.
The good: A full week in the middle of the semester, just like in the spring semester.
The bad: Three days earlier could mess up New Student Days activities or cut into the faculty's break between summer and fall semesters.
4. Start the semester a week earlier, then extend fall break and Thanksgiving break to full weeks.
The good: Two full weeks could mean better-rested students and faculty.
The bad: Starting so early would almost certainly affect faculty's downtime between the summer and fall. The semester would be spread over a longer period of time, which could counteract any anti-fatigue effect of longer breaks. So much down time could make the whole semester feel very disjointed-grades could suffer as a result.
5. Don't add any extra class days, and just cut out class days over fall break.
The good: None of the problems associated with starting the semester earlier, with all the benefits of a full fall break in the middle of the semester.
The bad: Fewer class days would mean less time for faculty members to teach and students to learn. Teachers would have to either squeeze everything into less time, or teach less overall.
6. Have a week-long "working" fall break, where no classes are held but teachers are allowed or expected to assign out-of-class homework assignments due after the break.
The good: Solves the problem of losing class days to a longer break and still lets everyone get away-at least from the classroom-for a whole week.
The bad: Having homework over the break could ruin it for students. Having large amounts of grading to do after the break would almost certainly ruin it for faculty members.
Progress editorial opinion
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