Survey finds students and faculty displeased with old timing of reading week
Zeina Yusuf
Contributor
Starting this semester, reading week will be much shorter, falling later in October than in previous years.
Co-curricular days—formerly referred to as Reading Week— span Wednesday, October 31 to Sunday, November 4 instead of the full week students were given off last year following the Thanksgiving weekend.
According to a York Senate policy report from June 2011,
the Academic Standards, Curriculum, and Pedagogy Committee proposed changes to the timing and duration of the fall co-curricular days.
“This was a result of robust consultation by ASCP with the community at large,” says Joanne Duklas, assistant vice-president of Enrolment Management and University Registrar. “It included faculty, undergraduate, and
graduate students.” The changes were published in the Senate Policy on Sessional Dates and the Scheduling of Examinations.
The purpose of co-curricular days is to allow more time for academic support sessions for students, according to Duklas.
“Teams across campus, including faculties and colleges, facilitate events for students to take part in, hence the name co-curricular days,” she says.
“I don’t mind the change in timing this year,” says Maria Bovenzi, a fourth-year fine arts student. “It gives me more time to settle in my courses.”
However, Bovenzi says as a senior student, the shortened week is a disappointment because she could use an extra few days to handle her heavy workload.
Similarly, Adam Palmer, a second-year children’s studies student, who works part-time, says, “I would be available to work more hours during reading week and catch up on readings, but I won’t have that time anymore.”
Duklas says according to a survey conducted by ASCP from 2008 to 2010, both students and faculty showed a general sense of discomfort with the timing of reading week in prior years.
“Students found that reading week occurred much too early in the term,” says Duklas.
The survey shows 98.5 per cent of undergraduate students felt reading week did not fall at an
appropriate time during the term.
According to a Senate policy report, the change was also made so that co-curricular days would happen after a minimum of six weeks of classes had gone by so as to not disrupt workflow.
The change to reading week will not affect the Faculty of Education, Schulich School of Business’ MBA programs, and Osgoode Hall Law School, which all follow differing sessional dates.
