Students push for extended fall breaks

By Robert Gold

Daily Staff Reporter

After cramming for midterms, some University students would like to have an extended Fall break to relax or prepare for final exams.

Students at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign will get that chance this year - with a total of nine days off during the Thanksgiving holiday. This change in the academic calendar will not impact the length of the semester, University of Illinois Senate Clerk Bob Damrau said.

University of Michigan students will have a four day weekend later this month, their first break of the semester.

Student and faculty representatives of the Illinois Senate voted last year to extend the Fall break after several years of students voicing their desire for it. Damrau said some faculty initially resisted the idea because they felt it was too late in the semester. The vacation this year will run from Nov. 18 through Nov. 26.

"They finally convinced faculty that (they are) adults and they won't forget anything they've learned in a week," Damrau said.

The Senate ruling stands for the next three years.

While students at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have campaigned for an extended fall break, the students at the University of Michigan have not, University Registrar Tom McElvaine said.

Students and faculty voiced their feelings about the academic schedule in the late 1980's. A survey found more students favored starting the semester later than receiving a longer Fall break, McElvaine said.

"No students have raised the question since then," he said, adding that examining the issue would likely occur if students raised concern.

McElvaine said because the University operates under a tri-semester system there is little time to squeeze in extra vacation days. The University has a tri-semester system because the Spring and Summer terms combined are equal in length to the Fall and Winter terms. The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign operates under a semester system, which means the summer terms are shorter and their is more time between terms. Illinois has averages between 72 and 74 days per term.

McElvine said the University of Michigan averages between 67 and 69 academic days. The only way the University of Michigan could extend any Fall break would be starting the semester before Labor Day, McElvaine said.

MSA member Sara Pray said the student government has not raised the issue of Fall breaks in her year in office. But at a Big Ten student government conference in Indiana last week, Pray said she spoke with other school representatives who voiced their desire for a longer break.

Pray said she thinks the issue will likely be addressed to MSA sometime this year.

The registrar's office develops a rough draft of the academic calendar and then distributes it to all university colleges and departments for suggestions.

Engineering senior Vaughn Washington said he would rather have a longer Fall break than starting the semester later.

"It's kind of like a second wind," Washington said, adding that it gives time for students to refocus on school.

But LSA junior Dave Werny said the benefits of starting the term later outweigh a break.

"It gives you another week to earn some cash," Werny said. "I think Thanksgiving is enough of a break."