Every semester since I transferred to Eastern Michigan University, I get angry and vow that I’m going to do something about it and every semester I don’t.
What has me up in arms? The final exam schedule. At EMU, classes end in the middle of the week and exams start the very next day.
This type of scheduling is not conducive to student academic success. EMU needs to emulate universities that prioritize academics above all else and begin having a reading period.
What is a reading period? Also known as a study period, actual practice varies from school to school, but at its most basic it is several days after classes end, set aside to give students a chance to study prior to the beginning of final exams.
According to the Weinberg College of Arts & Sciences at Northwestern University, “The reading period is a chance for students to integrate the material learned over the term, prepare for their final exams and complete extensive term projects without the pressure of having to work on new assignments or study for early examinations.”
Although classes may be held and new material introduced, instructors are encouraged to keep in mind the intent of the reading period.
Schools that have reading periods tend to have traditional, residential student populations whose only responsibility is school. Doesn’t it make sense that we, a university whose demographic is primarily non-traditional and commuter, with students who juggle full-time jobs and families, have the same?
To benchmark our policy against similar schools, I looked at the academic calendars for a dozen Michigan universities and one in Ohio. Almost every school I checked ends classes on Friday or Saturday and begins exams on Monday.
In an attempt to find out why we schedule our exams this way, I did a little investigation. It turns out our academic calendar is determined by the Academic Calendar Committee.
I couldn’t find out much about the committee (not even who is on it) due to a lack of transparency in how they operate. The only information I could find is that the Faculty Senate appoints several members, the university calendars must be approved by the Board of Regents, and for a period of several years, the calendars were sent to the board without input from the faculty.
Looking at a regular calendar, I tried to figure out how to have a 14-week schedule of classes, followed by a reading period and then final exams, using last semester as a hypothetical. If fall break were scheduled as winter break was last year (with the university closing on Friday and class resuming on Monday) we could still end classes on December 13, giving students three days between the end of classes and the beginning of exams.
While there are different scheduling challenges from semester to semester, I believe it is possible to build study days into the EMU academic calendar. At the very least, we can commit to ending
classes on Friday and starting exams on Monday.
Since I haven’t figured out a way to reach out directly to the Academic Calendar Committee, I am hoping that some of their members read The Eastern Echo. Additionally, for students, faculty and staff who also think we need change, I’ve created a petition.
Sincerely,
Lois Vasquez
