Make fall break a part of thanksgiving break
I understand that a 4 day weekend in the fall can be nice, but the fact that we have that 4 day weekend and then thanksgiving week still has class that Monday and Tuesday is messed up.
For out of state students, it means many of them can't go home for thanksgiving and spend some (probably) much needed time with their family. While not all of them would do this, it sucks that the choice is then taken out of their hands.
There are also students (like me) who are in-state but grew up elsewhere, and the only time we get to see our families is for Thanksgiving. I already had to miss going home for my cousin's wedding due to school, and now because I have an exam that Tuesday night I have a small chance of being able to go home for the one time I get to see my family every year. Even if I am able to go, it's more expensive and the timing of the exam is massively inconvenient.
I don't see any reason for Fall Break to exist, especially when there's such a huge inconvenience where Thanksgiving is concerned. I know many students are just going to skip those two days if they don't have anything they're obligated to do, so it's only decreasing the amount of time students are spending in class. There's not much professors can do with 2 days of class either, and I wouldn't be surprised if many canceled classes knowing how many students are going to be gone.
Hello!
So we have just started the discussion on this topic. We have a calendar committee working with those in administration right now to address this and other topics.
About half of our senate believe similarly to your comments. We will update you once a verdict is reached. We will also bring up the topic of holding tests during that week. Thank you!
Love,
USG