When the weather turns to sunny skies with temperatures in the low 80s and the student headcount in Fondren Library skyrockets, it can only mean one thing: finals.
With classes ending Tuesday, students, along with professors, are normally relieved to have the annual reading day to catch up and organize themselves before finals ensue. However, that is not the case this year, and students are feeling the repercussions of the decision.
For many, this day is used for preparing study guides, organizing notes, putting together projects and tying together loose ends in classes. Due to the loss of that extra day, students are feeling overwhelmed and pressed for time in studying for exams.
Students said they normally use the reading day for purposes ranging from visiting professors with last minute questions to making a personal schedule detailing how much time to allocate each subject while studying.
According to many, holing up in Fondren is the favored strategy for the week.
“I plan on hauling all my books and my computer to Fondy, grabbing a table, making a sweet playlist, putting in my headphones and cranking this out,” freshman Mark Griffin said.
On top of being overwhelmed, many students are furious because of the lack of prep time available to get ready for finals.
“We keep trying to compete with these elite schools, and they get a week of reading days and we get nothing,” senior Alex Igleheart said. “It’s absurd that we don’t have one.”
Contrary to the majority’s feelings behind the elimination of the reading day, some students feel no effect. For example, students with declared majors in the Cox School of Business, don’t normally have class on Fridays and are therefore unscathed by the implementation of the Friday schedule that will take place today.
“I don’t have Friday classes, so I basically have a reading day anyway,” junior Maddie Kamp said. “It doesn’t make a difference to me.”
The official reasoning behind the administration’s decision not to implement the reading day this year is unknown to many students. Doug Reinelt, professor of mathematics and member of the Faculty Senate Calendar Committee, can ease that quandary.
He explained that there must be 14 weeks of classes in order for the University to satisfy an accreditation organization–the SMU administration will only approve the calendar if there are a specific number of days between the end of final exams and spring graduation.
“The last Monday makes up for missing classes on MLK day,” Reinelt said, “And the last Tuesday (that was on the Friday schedule) makes up for missing classes on Good Friday.”
Meanwhile, students rush to grab their coffee, textbooks, notes and computer as they head over to Fondren, for they might not find a seat.
