Winter reading week has come and gone, with students now preparing for a final push of classes, assignments and exams.
The break falls just after the midpoint of term and aligns with the U of C. But it’s a different story in the fall, when MRU’s reading week falls in October, a full month before their northside peers. At the U of C, students get a week-long break in November before their stressful exam season starts.
This has lead many students and faculty to question the timing of the fall pause.
“I feel like it should be in November. When it’s in October, everything’s new. We don’t have a lot of assignments to do, and we’re not that tired,” says Sama Ghods, a second-year general science student at MRU.
The head of Mount Royal Faculty Association also thinks the reading break occurs too early in the semester when most courses are barely underway.
“It always felt like, ‘Oh my god, I haven’t gotten anywhere. And now I’m on a break’,” says Lee Easton, president of the faculty assocation.
Like it or not, the fall reading break happens five weeks after classes start at MRU, which usually commences at the beginning of September. This is similar to the break which occurs six weeks after the start of classes in the winter semester, which begins in early January. However, Easton says he never felt the winter break came too early.
Tala Hayyaneh, the academic vice-president of the Students Association at Mount Royal University, feels the main struggle is not the break itself but transitioning back to school from the summer.
“I think the discrepancy there is that students come out of the summer relaxed,” she says.
Some MRU students and staff would prefer the break in November, especially given that their neighbours at U of C take their break around Remembrance. But, the reading break has not always been in October, it started as a break in November and before that, it did not exist at all.
Until 2009, MRU and all universities across Alberta did not have a fall reading break. The reading break started at MRU with a few days off around Remembrance Day.
“It was three days or sometimes like two days. It was very weird. So then the decision was made that they should try for an actual reading break,” says Easton.
The first week-long reading break took place in November, which is similar to the timing of most fall reading breaks today. But, some say that a later break came with different challenges.
Easton argues a break in November would allow students to rest before finals season, but he concedes it might come too late by then to redeem a bad semester.
“If you’re not doing well, it’s going to be really hard to recover,” says Easton. “The only question now is, ‘Is there enough time to salvage what’s left, or are you going to withdraw’?’’
In an email statement, MRU says that several factors contributed to the early placement of the reading break. The timing of the reading break changed after a two-year-long conversation with the students association.
“Early onset of mental health and wellness challenges tend to appear in October and the first significant academic stresses of the school year begin at this time,” said MRU in its statement
For her part, Hayyaneh asserts that the break allows students to access support from MRU, and use the extra time off to make a plan for the remainder of their semester.
“I think that reading week can be instrumental in getting students back on track and into their better transition because there are still other opportunities in the fall for students to take breaks,” says Hayyaneh.
As for those who dislike the fall reading break placement, both Easton and Hayyaneh encourage students to speak with their student representatives and make their voices heard.
But even with enough support for a November break, Hayyaneh says it will take years to change the placement. Scheduling challenges and a minimum number of instructional days required in the fall semester are causes for it to remain as is.
In November, MRU’s General Faculties Council, the governing body that sets the academic schedule, voted to study when the break should happen.
In the meantime, Hayyaneh advises students to make the most out of the time they have.
“I tell students it’s not easy,” says Hayyaneh. “It’s important to live in the present and understand that this is what we have. We have a fall reading week. Let’s utilize it to our benefit.”