I’m concerned with WSU making such changes to the academic calendar in regards to spring break without considering the actual functional purpose within the academic structure for faculty, students and staff. That said, this is not enough time for faculty to do field work or make changes to research plans. I would rather see us possibly make spring break later in the semester or have the semester end a week later as well as consider other remedies before taking action on this agenda item. My primary point, as always, is if there has been enough discussion on the matter or consideration of the long-term ramifications of such action–which has potential draw backs. We already this last spring, over break, were expected to turn-around our F2F instruction to online format in less than a week which involved significant extra labor by faculty and staff. The bottom-line I’m not supportive of this move at all.
Response: This COVID-19 emergency measure was put forward from the Provost’s Office, discussed during the September 24 and October 8 Faculty Senate meetings and then passed by the Faculty Senate on October 8.
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