Scheduling class near university breaks
Every semester, we have a particular day (or days) that have extremely low class attendance because they fall right before a break. In fall, it's Thanksgiving. Miami is closed the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, so there are only two days of classes that week. A lot of students see it as opportunity to go home (or on a trip) for the entire week and leave town the weekend before Thanksgiving. Another time like this is right before Spring Break. The Thursday before Spring Break is celebrated by the students as "Green Beer Day*" (although some students do show up to class intoxicated). Even among students not drinking on Thursday, many leave town that day or the next so that attendance is always meager that Friday.
Every semester, we (faculty and staff) receive emails from the university administration warning us not to cancel classes on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving or on Green Beer Day. Last fall, we even had an email from the Provost that included this:
Every semester, we also get emails from students who have plane tickets or sudden family emergencies.** Making it even more complicated is that some of our colleagues schedule courses over Spring Break that involve travel, so there are always students (or teaching assistants) leaving early for official reasons (and other non-academic, but university-sanctioned trips).
This all makes for a difficult situation when it comes to scheduling class activities for these troublesome days. We only have so many class days as it is and want to be fair to the students who actually attend on those days. However, I don't want to schedule a critical lecture, guest speaker, exam, or important video on those days. I usually don't teach Tuesdays and Thursdays, so Green Beer Day isn't an issue for me right now. The Friday before Spring Break is, though. I am going to be showing a video in class tomorrow, but the exam questions from it will be extra credit only- this means that students who attend get an added benefit, but the majority of students*** who won't be there, can't complain. I still hate for them to miss out on this content, but I don't have time in my schedule to skip a whole day for no reason.
Does anyone have any creative ideas for dealing with days like this? Some colleagues just schedule exams, but I've never gone that route. I suppose I could show a video and make it available in the library for students to watch on their own if they miss class. It's always a dilemma and one that I don't see going away any time soon! One thing I find especially frustrating about the situation is parents who schedule trips for their college-aged children and don't see any problem with them missing class. I'm assuming that these parents are paying for this college education, so why would they want them to miss class? I also think that students can forget that they are just one of many students sending emails to ask for special accommodations on these days. We are only trying to be fair to all of our students and treat everyone equally.
*St. Patrick's Day often falls during Spring Break, so this is supposed to be when students can celebrate with their friends from school.
**Obviously some of these issues are genuine.
***I usually have about 30% attendance that day.
Every semester, we (faculty and staff) receive emails from the university administration warning us not to cancel classes on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving or on Green Beer Day. Last fall, we even had an email from the Provost that included this:
Dear colleagues,and this:
Each year, I hear of classes that have been canceled before Thanksgiving vacation begins. Adhering to the published class schedule is an important aspect of good teaching practices and I urge you to maintain a regular schedule during the week of the Thanksgiving holiday. Canceling classes disrupts schedules and produces a demoralizing effect across campus.
In particular, faculty should not feel pressured by students who are reporting that their other classes are being canceled or by students who report that they are inconvenienced by the holding of regularly scheduled classes. Neither of these rationales is a legitimate excuse for the cancellation of class.We received a similar email this semester that included information on how to deal with intoxicated students.
Faculty who cancel classes must receive prior permission from their chair or dean. I will be querying chairs and deans to see how many classes they have authorized to be canceled.
Every semester, we also get emails from students who have plane tickets or sudden family emergencies.** Making it even more complicated is that some of our colleagues schedule courses over Spring Break that involve travel, so there are always students (or teaching assistants) leaving early for official reasons (and other non-academic, but university-sanctioned trips).
This all makes for a difficult situation when it comes to scheduling class activities for these troublesome days. We only have so many class days as it is and want to be fair to the students who actually attend on those days. However, I don't want to schedule a critical lecture, guest speaker, exam, or important video on those days. I usually don't teach Tuesdays and Thursdays, so Green Beer Day isn't an issue for me right now. The Friday before Spring Break is, though. I am going to be showing a video in class tomorrow, but the exam questions from it will be extra credit only- this means that students who attend get an added benefit, but the majority of students*** who won't be there, can't complain. I still hate for them to miss out on this content, but I don't have time in my schedule to skip a whole day for no reason.
Does anyone have any creative ideas for dealing with days like this? Some colleagues just schedule exams, but I've never gone that route. I suppose I could show a video and make it available in the library for students to watch on their own if they miss class. It's always a dilemma and one that I don't see going away any time soon! One thing I find especially frustrating about the situation is parents who schedule trips for their college-aged children and don't see any problem with them missing class. I'm assuming that these parents are paying for this college education, so why would they want them to miss class? I also think that students can forget that they are just one of many students sending emails to ask for special accommodations on these days. We are only trying to be fair to all of our students and treat everyone equally.
*St. Patrick's Day often falls during Spring Break, so this is supposed to be when students can celebrate with their friends from school.
**Obviously some of these issues are genuine.
***I usually have about 30% attendance that day.
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