University of Wisconsin-Madison students have just finished their first full weeks of school. Some other BIG 10 schools started two or three weeks ago, but UW-Madison holds off until the Wednesday after Labor Day for the first day of classes.
The extra few weeks of summer are a nice treat for students, but it tends to throw a wrench in our schedule for the long run. While most schools provide their students with a fall break, a couple extra days off during Thanksgiving or both, UW does neither.
Aside from the Thursday and Friday of Thanksgiving, there are no scheduled holidays or breaks for students. Not only does this negatively impact students' mental health, but it also leads to burnout. By the end of the semester, Badgers are crawling through finals.
Additionally, UW’s academic calendar makes it difficult for out-of-state and international students, who make up more than half of the student body, to travel, particularly over the incredibly short Thanksgiving break.
It is nearly impossible for students to both attend their classes Wednesday and catch a flight out of Madison’s tiny airport. To fly out of O’Hare or Milwaukee, they need to catch a bus — best case scenario, Badgers are getting home Wednesday night and quickly back to the airport on Saturday or Sunday.
All of these inconveniences beg the question: is the extra day off after Labor Day really worth it? I’m sure plenty of students would rather start on Tuesday and have, say, a long Columbus Day weekend or Thanksgiving break. It’s a no-brainer.
With our schedule delayed until after Labor Day, final exams are also pushed back. This year, exams end Dec. 19. That sounds late, and it is, but in previous years it has been as late as Dec. 22.
As we know, the weather in Madison is not exactly conducive to wintertime travel. I can recall stories from my freshman year of students spending their first Christmas in college — in their dorm. And instructors are forced to work over the holiday to get exam grades in time.
There’s an easy solution to this problem: shift the start date back a week. This would give us four days, not including the Thursday and Friday of Thanksgiving weekend, to take off throughout the semester.
We could take the whole week of Thanksgiving off, giving students ten days of no classes to recharge before finals.
Or we could scatter those days throughout the semester and take off, for instance, Columbus Day, Election Day and any arbitrary Friday. I don’t have a huge preference on how to allot these days, but I do believe it is necessary for UW to provide some break for their students.
Shifting back the academic calendar gives the administration so much flexibility to create a less packed schedule for students and faculty. Badgers are busy. In addition to a full course load, many students pursue extracurricular activities and work jobs. With this, burnout is inevitable. But UW’s schedule forces them to chug on.
Starting a little earlier is really not a big ask.
Emmett Gaffney is a junior studying history. Do you agree that UW-Madison should start classes earlier? Send all comments to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
