If you have ideas about where to position the breaks and their length then please post them below. At the Oct 28 Senate there was this presentation and this chat then we took an informal poll:
No Breaks: 4
A single 1-day break : 11
Something more: 49
If you have ideas about other mechanisms for reducing stress then please share them below. Totally anonymous unless you identify yourself in the comment.
A single one day break is worthless. Why not keep us all online through mid March and then a one-week break (while folks return to campus etc) and then in-person through the end of the semester – ending a week later?
This seems like an excellent solution- similar to this semester but in reverse.
More than one day of break, please! The single Wednesday off this Fall was barely adequate for students and faculty with primarily M-W-F class schedules and no break at all for those with primarily T-Th schedules.
As faculty member, I strongly support multiple one-day breaks, positioned on alternating days mid-week, to support the mental health of students. Another marathon like the current semester is untenable. Faculty should be asked to arrange their syllabi to avoid having major commitments due right after these breaks to allow students to take a true day of rest.
I concur and suggest that, if we end up with too many breaks on mid-week days, that we could classify some remaining days in the semester as “Wednesday schedule”, for example, on a Tuesday, so that an even number of days of the week are affected, if not in reality, then in class schedule.
As a faculty member, I think we need a couple of breaks for both the students and faculty. I would prefer breaks that would discourage travel away from campus. I think one day or two day breaks in the middle of the week two or three times in the semester would be good.
How about we have 1 day break each month that doubles as the “snow day” for the preceding month. If there ends up needing to be a cancellation of classes, that day is “used up” but if there isn’t, the students get that day off on the designated day. That would allow faculty to plan for a consistent amount of teaching days while students can expect some time off.
We know from comments on social media and private conversations that people (not only students) go elsewhere when they need to for family or medical reasons. I think Spring semester is often more stressful than Fall semester, and that facing another term knowing there is no substantial break to anticipate is a formidable barrier to successful completion of the the semester. I wonder whether the lack of a Spring Break may even tip some students into deciding not coming back for Spring semester?
Students AND faculty need breaks, primarily for mental health and time management. Many students and faculty are experiencing an even more intense burnout than usual, and one-day breaks often don’t feel like breaks at all.
Shorter breaks within the semester are great, but I think at least one extended break–whether 3 days or a week–is equally important. Students take courses 4-5 days a week with exams sometimes happening over weekends. A proper break over several days is the only way to give them and faculty space to recalibrate in a meaningful way. It’s also a way to ensure that courses don’t misread these days as unofficial work days. One day a week–whether a MTW or TTh–is often functionally not a break in terms of quality relative to a two-day stretch, say W/Th.
I strongly prefer several breaks next semester that are not midweek. The students’ mental health will benefit much more from a longer break. As we are heading into a 3rd semester of the pandemic, ensuring that we address mental health with adequate breaks for both students and professors will be very important.
I strongly prefer an extended break, not just a 1 day midweek break. This allows students a true mental break from the stress of classes. I think we could monitor students with testing to ensure that we don’t have an outbreak. Even having the break on a Monday or Friday would provide more of a break than a midday week break, which isn’t really a break at all, from what students told me this semester. The mental health aspect is reallly important – even more as we head into a 3rd semester of the pandemic.
Several short breaks for sure. But please do something preventing professors from making large assignments due or scheduling prelims for the day back. Especially with single day breaks– it’s not really a break if I have to study for an exam the next day.
Having few breaks will be devastating for the mental health and fitness of students and faculty. How about multiple 1-2 day breaks mid week, spread out say once every 2-3 weeks.
If it comes down to a 1-day break in the spring semester that’s fine, but there should be some sort of policy in place where professors are not allowed to give exams/papers/have anything due on weekends or on our 1-day break. Professors have been eagerly giving exams on weekends and making papers due on weekends which is completely absurd in my opinion if we’re not getting any breaks and the weekend is supposed to be our “break”.
-a burnt out undergrad student
I think multiple, single day breaks, spaced out periodically would be beneficial. I.E, take the number of desired days off, and intersperse them throughout the semester. The short duration of any single break will decentivise travel, while the accumulated break time will preserve sanity.
There needs to be more breaks! Going nonstop like this for a full semester is exhausting and discouraging!
I have noticed a sharp decline in the state of my peers’ mental health this semester. While the pandemic is certainly a factor, the fact that there was only a single day of break played a role as well. It can feel as though each day gets repetitive filled with nothing but work that piles on endlessly. A longer break (especially in the middle of prelim season) can be invaluable for students’ mental health
I’m a current student right now, and Professors have been piling up so much extra homework to us students. I don’t know why that is- but I’ve literally never been this busy before during the past three years and I’m taking more “chill” courses in my STEM major this semester. I live my days looking forward to the next break, because it gives me time to catch up and actually relax. Breaks are, I would argue, absolutely necessary for the good of our mental health. I understand that we cannot implement long stretches of breaks, but maybe having 1 Wednesday off every month makes me feel so much more comfortable going into the semester. Please consider!
Please dont reduce the break! Sparsely placed breaks mid week are totally fine!
I am a current student and would greatly appreciate more break days for my mental health. I wouldn’t mind more weeks with only 1 break day too (like fall break this year) if people traveling is an issue.
I would like to propose having two days off in the middle of the week if student travel is a concern. Either Tues/Weds or Weds/Thurs. This semester has been untenable for undergraduate students. We are all suffering immensely from the lack of breaks. Please, I beg you to consider the exhaustion of EVERYONE involved.
Please give more than one day of break; students and faculty have their limits, and having so few days off will surely worsen the mental health of students who are already have a lot on their plate.
As a current undergrad student, I do not any of my peers who used the one day off to relax. We were all were using it to catch up on the enormous amounts of school work we needed to finish. The people suggesting that the one day break was enough for us or that we don’t need any breaks in the spring semester are either very out of touch with students’ mental health needs or don’t interact with any of us on a daily basis. Please consider adding more breaks into the spring semester.
2+ breaks pleaseee
Please give us a break in the spring
No break or only one day will cause more mental health problems and spread more stress
Students need break
Let’s please take a couple days off in the spring! We are all going to need a break.
Not just the students. Maybe two days mid-week so less temptation for travel.
I strongly prefer we have an extended break, not just 1-day breaks scattered throughout the semester. 1-day breaks are not enough to allow students a mental breather from their schoolwork. I understand people are worried about students traveling to places during extended breaks, but that happens anyway during weekends. If we had an extended break and monitored students’ status (surveillance testing, etc) as they came back, that would be more effective.