Stop Day set for Saturday next year
Published April 23, 2004
Students will spend next year's Stop Days in a classroom, not in a library cramming for finals or catching up on sleep.
The academic calendar for the 2004-2005 school year replaces Stop Day with a "reading day" the Saturday before finals. Classes will end at the close of the day on Friday instead of Thursday.
The change was made quietly by the Faculty Council in October 2002, but students and the Missouri Students Association only recently noticed the change and began questioning its merits.
Bill Lamberson, the council's academic affairs chairman, said Stop Day was intended to provide a break between classes and the beginning of final exams.
"In recent years, with finals week beginning on Saturday, Stop Day was the only day between the end of classes and the beginning of finals," he said. "Since finals week has been shortened, there are two days during the weekend so students can study."
Lamberson said another reason for the change is to avoid shortening vacations such as winter break.
"The coordinating board has an expectation for a specific number of class hours," he said. "If we don't have class on the Monday and Tuesday of Thanksgiving break, the calendars fall short of the required number of hours. This allows us to avoid having classes the week of Thanksgiving or having to return a week early from Christmas break."
MSA Senate Clerk Greg Chase said the organization is looking into why the changes have been made.
"A lot of our constituents are coming to MSA frustrated and upset," he said. "MSA hasn't taken a stance, and no legislation has been filed, but the Student Affairs Committee is looking into it."
Chase said the change in the schedule was never announced to students, but MSA members noticed the change.
"We were looking at next year's calendar to plan our events and noticed the difference," he said. "It is something everybody has been planning things around for years. It's kind of a shock to see it disappear."
Associate Provost Lori Franz said calling the day a "reading day" instead of Stop Day would allow it to count as an instruction day.
"We have an agreement that we will have 75 instruction days per semester," she said. "If we call it a reading day, it counts as an instruction day."
Lamberson said the academic calendars are set 2 1/2 years in advance.
"The 2004-2005 academic calendar would have been set in October 2002," he said.
Chase said MSA is looking at what can be done to change it back in the future. Although the calendar for 2005-2006 also already has been determined, Lamberson said if there were a problem with not including a Stop Day it could be changed when the next academic calendar is finalized.