Collegiate Times

This semester, I have had the great opportunity to teach a section of the UNIV 1004 College Success Strategies course. Of the 23 students in the class, 18 of them are first-year students in university studies. The rest of the students are sophomores, juniors and seniors looking at improving their skills.

Over the course of the last 13 weeks, I have seen these first year students grow in terms of their self-confidence and ability to manage their busy schedules.

Since most are university studies students, they are thinking about career choices, potential majors and stressing over the requirements needed to get into certain academic programs — whether it is getting into the ultra-competitive architecture program or engineering or other disciplines. The non-first year students have responded well in rebuilding their confidence to succeed.

At the start of the course, one of the first assignments was for the students to provide a detailed list of due dates for their assignments, projects and exams in their other classes. I decided to compile all of these items, and in the process, it became evident which dates were going to be the heaviest for the students.

One of the patterns that emerged was that more than 75 percent of the class has an exam, project or assignment that is due on Monday, Nov. 30. While this would not be a big deal in normal circumstances, the challenge is that this is the first day back from the weeklong Thanksgiving break. If my class is facing this, then a good number of other students are facing this scenario.

Let’s be honest, how many of us are going to be thinking about doing academic work during the Thanksgiving break?

While we cannot make the assumption of how individuals spend the time during the break period, I suspect that it is difficult to concentrate on school-related items during this time.

I have heard many stories from students about how they took their schoolbooks home, had the best of intentions, but never picked up the books. It can be very easy to do especially if one hasn’t been home all semester, or is busy reconnecting with family and friends, working or just resting.

Some would argue that the students knew of this Nov. 30 date well in advance and should have been preparing throughout this time rather than waiting until the last minute. The challenge to this assumption is that the period before this date is filled with other projects, exams and assignments.

Do you have students choosing one over the other? How do students balance the needs of both?

Maybe it is a usual part of the academic ritual but it seems to me to be a form of cruel and unusual punishment. Students are already feeling anxious with finals around the corner, and they come back and already have to face a make or break effort that can have serious repercussions.

It would seem to me that my faculty colleagues could be more flexible and understanding in looking at the calendar and ensure that they do not schedule assignments or exams on such days.

Why schedule something that is due on that Monday after a break? Would it not make sense to have the assignment due later in that week? Would that not help potentially improve the quality of the effort?

I may be accused of pandering to the students and babying them, but that is not my intention. It is about being realistic. If our goal is to ensure that our students are successful and are going to retain what they have learned, is having an exam or a major project due on the Monday after Thanksgiving break going to make that happen? I don’t believe it does. Instead, it just raises anxiety levels and creates unwanted stress.

I realize that these last few weeks of the semester are hectic for the faculty as they are trying to incorporate all of the things that are remaining from the syllabus. For the students, this is compounded by the three, four or five classes that they are taking, and each require something in this final stretch. Students have to make decisions about what is going to be a priority.

I argue that more consideration needs to take place when exams, projects and assignments are scheduled, especially when it comes to major breaks.

Whether it is Thanksgiving break, spring break or even fall break, efforts can be made to be more flexible.

I am not calling for the academic freedom of faculty to be questioned, just that my faculty colleagues be more understanding and be more strategic in their scheduling of their assignments, projects and/or exams.

Regardless of what happens, I will do what I can to help my students prepare for that Monday, Nov. 30. I am confident that they will be able to manage, but it will be a test for them.

If anything, we have to be aware of the external factors that impact our students and that they don’t just go to school in a vacuum. I may get a lot of flack, but as faculty we need to be seen as more realistic and more understanding.