Dean: Class before holiday needed to finish coursework

Although no official figures are available for class attendance last Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving break, both professors and students are looking to address the trend of decreased attendance before scheduled breaks.

Officially, classes are still scheduled for that day and students and faculty are subject to the usual attendance guidelines.

Though many in the University community would prefer to have the day off to travel, officials say the work day is necessary to ensure adequate time for teaching.

"Class is held on that day so that students have a sufficient number of classes to complete their course work," College Dean Rebecca Bushnell said.

Citing the already short duration of the fall semester, she mentioned that other institutions have acknowledged and addressed the problem by offering a full week for Thanksgiving break but eliminating fall break, or by starting the semester earlier.

So far, no one has called for a review of the policy.

Student Committee on Undergraduate Education chairwoman Samantha Springer recognized that many students have a difficult time traveling for the holiday, and said she "would be all for it" if Penn decided to review the policy.

Short of changing the rules, many professors choose to offer relief to their students.

"I try to give [my students] the break to get away," English professor Paul Hendrickson said.

Hendrickson, who teaches a documentary writing class every Wednesday, held a substitute class on the Sunday before Thanksgiving after soliciting student feedback.

"I asked them about three, four weeks ahead of time," he said.

His class eventually met and held a Thanksgiving feast on Wednesday in the apartment of a student.

"It was so cool," Hendrickson said, adding that the success of rescheduling the class was contingent on its small size of 12 students.

Students seem to appreciate professor consideration.

Wharton freshman Jed Cairo was in Chicago last Wednesday. One of his classes scheduled for that day was canceled while the other two were deemed "optional."

"Teachers need to be flexible," Cairo said. "If kids are traveling across the country, sometimes they need to leave Wednesday."

But personally, Bushnell sticks to what the schedule requires.

"When I have had a class on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, I just did what I had to do and taught the class," said Bushnell, who is also an English professor. "I know it can be a terrible inconvenience for many people, but it's also wrong to cut a course short."

Biology professor Scott Poethig noticed a slight drop in student attendance during his introductory level biology class last Wednesday but was optimistic about the number of students present.

"It was actually pretty good. I would say two-thirds or more of the students were there," Poethig said, adding that he expected fewer students to attend.

Despite this expectation, however, Poethig emphasized how "absolutely appropriate" it was to hold classes as scheduled.

"In the real world, people don't get Wednesday off before Thanksgiving," Poethig said.

Still, student plans are the deciding factor for some professors.

Finance professor Domenico Cuoco canceled both Wednesday sections of his 60-student financial derivatives class after a dozen students notified him that they would not be attending.

To avoid creating problems for students traveling home, Cuoco spoke in favor of starting the semester a day earlier so that classes on the day before Thanksgiving could be canceled without affecting the number of teaching days.

Nonetheless, he said that coverage of course material would be insignificantly affected by the canceled class.

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