Fall Reading Week Eliminated with Little Student Consultation

At an emergency meeting of the StFX University Senate on the morning of June 18th, the senate passed a motion to eliminate the Fall Reading Week for the 2020-2021 Academic year. The motion originated in the report of the Academic Vice-President, Dr. Tim Hynes.

Dr. Hynes commented that “the cancellation of the Fall Study Break was not something anyone wanted to see happen, ” but emphasized the university’s concern for the risks of student travel during the COVID-19 pandemic. The trade-off he says, “is ending classes sooner to get them [students] home earlier in December.”

This move comes as the university prepares their plan for fall classes, which will be voted on by the Board of Governors on June 19th.

According to Siobhan Lacey, the StFX Students’ Union Vice-President Academic, this decision follows conversations between the Students’ Union Executive and the University Administration. Dr. Hynes described the Executive as being “supportive.” Lacey agrees, saying that “the number one priority of the StFX Students’ Union is the safety of our students,” and that the Union is “eager to work with the university to fill any gaps” that are left by the elimination of reading week.

Some have raised questions about the lack of student consultation that was done around this decision. One student senator, speaking on condition of anonymity, described themselves as “surprised” by the motion to remove reading week.

Alex Clow, the Student Arts Senator, described “confusion about communication” due to the turnover of senators as leading to late notice of the meeting.  According to Clow, the Student’s Union Vice-President Academic was the only student senator notified of the meeting until Clow heard from a faculty member about the upcoming meeting. Following this, Clow emailed Lacey, and she had the information sent to the other five student senators. The student senators did not get the invitation to the meeting until Monday, June 15th, three days before the meeting.

Clow, who voted in favor of the motion to eliminate fall reading week for the 2020-2021 academic year described himself as being fully supportive of the idea, citing the dangers of travel in during the pandemic.

The fall reading week was created in response to advocacy by 2018-2019 Students’ Union Vice-President Academic Tiffany MacLennan, who conducted a student survey to gage support for the idea. Students overwhelmingly supported the idea of a fall reading week, with 97.65 percent of respondents supporting the idea, with the highest support in the Faculty of Arts with 98.41 percent support, and the lowest support in the Faculty of Arts and Science with 97.01 percent support.

With such wide support for a fall reading week, it is unclear how students will react. In response to the decision, one early commenter said “I think that the university should consider the possibility that students use that time to study for their courses effectively. Ultimately, student success should be the main priority. ”

As students prepare to begin classes in the fall, this schedule change will likely factor in to their decision making moving forward.