When exam time rolled around last semester, students and faculty were denied a chance to review and take a short break between the regular schedule and exams. When the schedule-makers planned the calendar for the 2001-2002 school year, Reading Day was pushed back until after exams began. Students protested in classes. Professors listened to complaints about the loss of the much-needed day, but no changes were made to the schedule, and when it came time to take exams, students went to class through Thursday, Dec. 7, and took their first exams the next day.
This semester, the exam schedule is similar to the one students and faculty faced last semester. Exams are scheduled to begin Thursday, May 2, and students and faculty are given two Reading Days, Saturday, May 4, and Sunday, May 5, to “prepare” for exams they may have already taken. Exams begin two days before students have a chance to prepare for them.
We, as an editorial staff, understand the purpose of Reading Day to be an opportunity for students and faculty alike to review and prepare for examinations.
If that is the case, shouldn’t Reading Day come BEFORE exams begin? It only seems logical that a day of preparation should come before the event it has been set aside to prepare for.
In many classes toward the end of each semester, every last day and minute of class is devoted to covering information that will be included on the final exam. In the rush to cover all material, students are often given new information through the last day of class. A Reading Day is needed to study the new material, along with the old, since many exams are comprehensive.
Students are not the only ones upset about the changes to the schedule. The faculty has also raised complaints about the missing day.
The decision to move Reading Day was one that was made without the approval of the faculty, and the Faculty Senate has moved to reinstate Reading Day as the day after classes end and the day before exams begin.
According to a report from the Faculty Senate, Registrar Larry Dobbs said the decision to move Reading Day was made by the office of the provost, and he “indicated that he thought that Reading Day was moved to a Saturday after exams had begun largely because of the difficulties of scheduling exams on a weekend.”
It seems as if everything but the preferences of students and faculty was considered when this decision was made. Students may not particularly enjoy Saturday examinations, but we believe that most students would rather have a Reading Day in place before exams begin than a free weekend.
For better performance on final examinations, a Reading Day is absolutely necessary. To go directly from regular classes into exams is ridiculous, and the voices of the students and faculty deserve to be heard.
Reading Day should be moved to its previous position in the schedule, and change the planned schedule to accommodate the requests of the faculty and students. Exam grades will improve, and students and faculty will be much happier. Isn’t the purpose of a university to serve the students? Listen to them.