Due to extreme weather, blocks of classes on Friday, Monday, and Tuesday were cancelled. Taken by Nicholas DiFazio.
Snow days with homework, or more class time in May when the sun finally emerges and the snow is long gone?
That is a question students may have to face in the coming weeks if too many classes are cancelled for inclement weather .
As students rejoiced over cancelled classes on Friday, Monday and Tuesday, administrators needed to consider what missed time in the classroom means for the final exam schedule.
Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Paul Fitzgerald told The Mirror that it is still too early in the semester to determine if additional class days will be necessary.
Because of the unpredictability of future storms, “there is still much that we don’t know about how much class time we may lose,” Fitzgerald said.
He acknowledges that he does not have a timetable on making the decision to rearrange the final exam schedule in order to accommodate more class time.
Fitzgerald says that class days were added following Hurricane Sandy “to make possible a recoup of all of the lost time,” without extending the semester or changing the Thanksgiving break.
Last fall’s storm caused a three credit hour course to lose 150 minutes of class time.
“In the days and weeks ahead, I will confer with senior university leadership, including the Academic Deans, FUSA leadership will be consulted, and Academic Council will take up the matter,” Fitzgerald explains.
While students involved with FUSA will be involved if such discussions are necessary, other students debate about the days off.
“Right now I’d rather be out, but I know I’d regret it in May. When the weather is like this I just want to stay in my bed, but in May I can hang out and do fun things,” said Chelsey Silva ’15.
Sophomore Allie Skibiak agrees that she would rather have school now and leave for summer vacation earlier.
Senior Ebuka Arinze, on the other hand, would rather have free time now, even if class days needed to be added on at the end of the semester.
As of now, only time, and the weather, will tell.
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