Spring break woes

By: Ethan Hockaday

hockadaye@findlay.edu

We take a look at why there isn’t a full week off for spring break like in years past at UF

The University of Findlay announced in the fall of 2020 that the following spring semester of 2021 would look a little different, with the spring break being changed from one long break to sporadic days off throughout the semester.

UF President Dr. Katherine Fell says that the decision is an effort to limit travel exposure for faculty and students.

“We [Emergency Operations Team] didn’t keep the full week off because we didn’t want to encourage people to gather or travel,” said Dr. Fell.

However, after the cancellation of fall break last semester, VP for Student Affairs Dave Emsweller says that the lack of a break did start to show on students and faculty alike.

“I am worried about it. I think that people are getting fatigued from all of this,” Emsweller said. “We wanted to make sure we spread the days off, so that there is at least some type of break.”

The chosen days off to replace spring break are Feb. 10, March 2 and 26, and April 14. Students will also be interested to know that April 1-5 will constitute Easter break, with the 5-day weekend being the longest one they will have throughout the spring semester. The school is currently on its first break day in March.

 “We want people to treat it as a day off,” Emsweller said. “There are some student organizations planning somethings, but we won’t be planning anything on a day off.”

With most days off happening during the middle of the week, some students are worried how teachers and students will be able to treat those days off.

“There is no policy for the university to mandate how teachers teach or say what kind of work they can give out,” Fell said. But she hopes that people will take it easy.

Hiro Kawamura, Associate Professor of Japanese, says the new format took some planning.

“I thought about it a lot and will adjust so that the day will be able to be a day off for students,” Kawamura said.

Students have mixed reactions regarding the decision to cancel spring break.  Some students like Alexa Hernandez, a senior at UF, understand why it was made but are not sure it will do much to curb travel exposure.

“I feel that without the continuous breaks, students will feel fatigued, with the single days off were still likely to do schoolwork on them. So it’s not like much has changed,” said Hernandez. “I understand why they’re doing it, but you’re not going to stop college students from going to travel somewhere.”

For anyone looking for more information about the University’s Stay Safe Plan, visit www.findlay.edu/oiler-start-safe-and-stay-safe/.