We are disappointed to learn that the new academic calendar that we all experienced last semester has been finalized by the Educational Policy Committee. For the next five years, only four days will be designated as a reading period, with two days of exams scheduled in the middle. We understand the need to make changes to ensure that students (especially international students), have time to get home before Christmas, but shortening reading week is not an acceptable way to do that.
In an Argus article last semester (“EPC Alters Reading Week, Exam Schedule,” Sept 9th, Vol. CXLIV, No. 3), the University’s registrar, Anna van der Burg, opined that students have too much free time during reading week. We found out just how wrong that belief was at the end of last semester. Many students simply did not have the time to study effectively for their exams and complete their final assignments. It seems like few students were able to maintain healthy sleeping schedules during this last reading period. It is not hard to see that student discontent with the new calendar is widespread, and dismissing our feelings as knee-jerk opposition to change, as some have done, is irresponsible. Some administrators have defended the new academic calendar by noting that Wesleyan has a longer reading period than some of our peers. But the administration also loves to tell the world how uncommonly engaged and hardworking Wesleyan students are. Perhaps our industrious student body deserves a little extra time to work.
Luckily, an opportunity to fix reading week while shortening the academic year has presented itself. We encourage the EPC to implement the WSA’s proposal and shorten orientation by a day and add a day to reading week. While we all enjoyed our first-year orientation, we were eager to begin our academic careers and many became impatient with orientation’s slow pace. The WSA’s proposal emphasizes what should be the primary concern of our fine University: academics.
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