GW students will have to make up two days of canceled classes, pushing the reading period to the weekend as a result of two days of snow and protests of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank meetings.
The reading period will now be from May 6 through May 8 with exams scheduled to begin May 9.
Students and faculty have mixed reactions to the addition of the two days to the calendar.
I think we should have more than one weekend (to study), said sophomore Mariana Kessimian. Kessimian said she has five of her exams the first three days of the exam schedule, and does not feel she will have enough time to thoroughly prepare.
It is not only disturbing because there is less time to study but people, like myself, who work are also affected by (the change), junior Fred Newton said. He said many GW students are encouraged to take advantage of few Fridays classes by getting a job, and now they have to move their schedule around to get the day off to go to class.
Of course, I wish I would have more reading days, but I don’t see what else (the administration) could have done with the schedule, sophomore Emily Driscoll said. Driscoll said most of her professors will be using Friday as a review session for final exams, so no new work will be covered.
It’s not (the students’) fault we had snow days and protests, senior Eric Abes said. A better idea would be to push back exams, so we can have a real reading period.
It is critical to keep the exam schedule, said Craig Linebaugh, associate vice president for Academic Planning and Special Projects. Linebaugh said the exam schedule could not be pushed back a couple of days to accommodate a longer reading period because of Commencement and the desire some students might have to leave for the summer.
Linebaugh, who is also chair of the Academic Calendar Committee, said, historically, students have often only had two reading days. Whenever possible, the committee has tried to put reading days next to a weekend, he added.
We want to maximize the time between classes and final exams, Linebaugh said.
History Professor Richard Stott said he will not complete all the class material that he had originally planned.
It’s very hard on the students, Stott said. He said his students are currently being lectured on different material than they are reading, as a result of missed classes.
Newton found a different situation.
The professors didn’t anticipate (the schedule change), and they have been teaching faster to get through all the material, he said. Newton said many of his professors have completed the course material and now have nothing left to teach.
It’s certainly not an ideal situation, but we owe (the students) class time, Linebaugh said. But I believe it’s the best plan we could put into place.
