The Circle

Issue date: 2/1/07 Section: News

Media Credit: James Reilly A Senate resolution canceled the make-up exam day scheduled on December 24 in the 2007 fall semester.

Marist students who took to their keyboards posting rants and protests about next year's proposed winter break schedule on facebook can finally rest easy. After considering the feelings of the student body, Marist has decided to eliminate final exam make-ups on Christmas Eve.

"Students got really upset and formed a facebook group [to protest the schedule]," said student body president Maryellen Conway. "Usually the actual calendar is voted on for three years [in advance]. They [the administration] understand what happened this time, and they'll make sure that it doesn't happen again."

The debate about winter break began last semester when students discovered that during the 2007-2008 school year, the break would start on December 21, a week later than in past years. Students balked at the last academic day's close proximity to Christmas Eve, which was scheduled as a make-up day for finals.

Sophomore Joanna Rutkowski said, "Having to make up a final on Christmas Eve ... sounds a little bit like a horrible idea."

In deference to perceived popular desire, the Senate of the Student Government Association passed a resolution that it believed would prevent students from having to remain on campus the week before Christmas, according to sophomore Senator Joe DeLisle. The proposed solution would have required students and faculty to return to Marist from summer break a week early. With this extra week built into the schedule the winter intercession would also be pushed back.

However, the proposed solution was rejected by a faculty vote, DeLisle said, accepting only the elimination of December 24 as a make-up day for finals. The issue, apparently, is a contractual one.

The faculty "contract says they can't come in before Labor Day," said DeLisle. "Our Senate resolutions don't have the legal authority…to alter contracts."

According to Meg Franklin, assistant dean of academic affairs, the scheduling is further complicated because New York state's government also has an influence in the creation of Marist's academic calendar. Franklin said that the NYSED has a pre-set number of instructional hours that a college must have their students complete within a semester, and it becomes difficult for Marist to include breaks and final exam periods while abiding by these constraints.

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