Faculty Senate recommends fall break; 28-20 vote in favor of fall break
Students’ call for a break between Labor Day and Thanksgiving was answered Monday when the Faculty Senate voted to recommend a one-day fall break to President Stan Albrecht.
After a vote of 21-2, there was a motion to take a roll-call vote. In the roll call vote, the senate voted 28-20 in favor of the fall break.
The petition to give students and faculty a fall break began in October 2005, said Spencer Watts, Academic Senate vice president. Watts and Maure Smith, Graduate Studies Senate vice president, argued in favor of the break, saying that having down-time is necessary for both students and teachers to be as productive as they can be.
“We found information in support of a small break and encourage the senate to vote in approval of it,” Watts said before the senate moved to vote on the break.
Watts cited an article in the Seattle Times about a study at Tel Aviv University that showed a small break can help prevent burnout, as well as a study at Kansas State University that showed a short break usually precedes an increase in productivity.
Students have found the long, unbroken stretch of school between Labor Day and Thanksgiving difficult to handle. Many wondered why there was not an extra day set aside to catch up on homework or simply relax.
Four options were considered for a fall break during the third week of October.
Option one was the one chosen by the Faculty Senate and was a one-day break on the third Friday in October. The second choice was a two-day break, Thursday and Friday of that week, and would require the semester to begin a day earlier. The third option was a two-day break and a week off for Thanksgiving, but would require school to start a week earlier. The fourth option also would require school to begin a week earlier and would give a week for fall break.
Watts said option one was chosen for recommendation to President Albrecht because of the results of a poll administered in the TSC. Students preferred not to begin school earlier and chose option one, so that was what was presented to the Faculty Senate for approval. With the senate’s vote now behind it, it will be recommended to Albrecht for approval.
The ultimate decision rests in President Albrecht’s hands. Though the Faculty Senate’s word is not law, Watts said students can rest assured there will be a break next fall semester.
Professors expressed concern about the consequences of losing a day of class. To prevent labs held only on Friday from missing a whole week of class, they may begin the first week of school instead of the second.
Others simply did not agree that a break was necessary or that one day would make much of a difference in student or faculty performance.
“There is no indication that a four-day week will add to the education of students. So I oppose it,” said Greg Jones from the College of Science.
Other items discussed in the meeting were two building projects planned on campus. In place of the old Merrill Library, scheduled to be torn down, a new $10 million Agriculture Building will be built. Provost Ray Coward said the State Legislature gave $5 million in 2005 to build, and USU expects the rest to come through this year.
The other new building planned will be an engineering building. Coward said USU received $6 million from the Legislature for the project but had hoped for more to use in combination with $10 million raised privately.
“We’ll just build a smaller buildings centered on labs,” he said.
-ella@cc.usu.edu