Plan: Extend reading days

SCUE proposal also asks for even semester lengths If SCUE has its way, the University's academic calendar will soon include more reading days and an equal number of class days each semester. This semester, students have been allocated two reading days before final examinations, but in the Student Committee on Undergraduate Education-backed proposal, students would receive a total of six reading days – four weekdays plus a weekend. "The proposed schedule was developed based on six reading days," said Matthew Kratter, SCUE's Academic Calendar Subcommittee co-chairperson. "We don't want reading days to turn into a party atmosphere, but we wanted to give students time to study. "For a University that claims to have a certain academic rigor," the Engineering and Wharton junior added, "two days of reading doesn't give students time to compile their work." The second goal of the new plan is to make the number of teaching days during the fall and spring semesters equal. The proposed plan would provide faculty with 67 teaching days each semester. Currently, the fall semester has 64 class days, while the spring semester has 70 days. Kratter said SCUE's plan will help faculty members plan their semesters more easily. "Our plan makes class planning a lot easier," he said. "Professors can teach the same exact schedule both semesters if they have an equal number of days to work with." In formulating the proposal, the subcommittee examined the current academic calenders of all the Ivy League universities, except Dartmouth College which uses a trimester system, as well as Duke University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Virginia. If the new proposal is implemented, the University's calendar would be comparable to these other institutions, Kratter said. SCUE's proposal would not change the dates of any major campus events including Homecoming, Parents' Weekend, Commencement and Alumni Day. The plan even extends Christmas break by three days and allows students and professors to leave for their summer vacations one day earlier than the current schedule. Under the new schedule, classes would start almost a week earlier than the University's current academic schedule. SCUE Chairperson and College senior Jonathan Pitt said this is the plan's only drawback because students and faculty members might not want to return to school early, even though the majority of colleges are back in session prior to Labor Day. The subcommittee has already presented its proposal to the Council of Undergraduate Deans and is currently awaiting its endorsement. Pitt said SCUE is waiting to present the same proposal to the Faculty Senate and hopes both groups will support the newly-designed calendar. He said SCUE members must be patient with this proposal. If this plan were to be endorsed, he said, it would probably not be implemented "for a little while yet." Several students said they would support the plan. "I don't think two days is enough time to prepare for an exam," College sophomore Haley Schneider said. "Especially when at the end of the semester there are so many final papers and projects due before reading days." "I think we need at least three reading days," College sophomore Deborah Heller said. "I have take-home tests and a paper due during reading days, so two days is not enough time to study."