Committee votes to approve reading day Day
By SARAH NESTOR
Saint Mary's Editor
The Saint Mary's student government reading day initiative is one step closer to becoming a reality. Last Friday the Academic Standards Committee [ASC] voted to approve the proposal. However, according to Elizabeth Jablonski-Diehl, student body vice president who also sits on the ASC, the vote was not unanimous, proving that apprehension about the proposal still exist.
According to Jablonski-Diehl one of the major concerns for each department is the inequality between classes that would result from turning a class day into a reading day. Although Jablonski-Diehl said that concerns will be addressed and is hopeful that the proposal will be implemented next year.
"We got really positive feedback," Jablonski-Diehl said of the ASC.
Now that the reading day proposal has been approved by the ASC it will move onto the Academic Affairs Council [AAC] for final approval and implementation. Jablonski-Diehl said that she and Student Body President Kim Jensen would be making a presentation to the AAC sometime in the next month.
"[The AAC is] a different type of committee because it's the last board before things get implemented," Jablonski-Diehl said.
Jensen is the student representative to the AAC, so is familiar with its members and capacities. Jablonsko-Diehl said that the AAC has put the proposal at the top of its agenda and that the student body will know within the next two months whether or not the proposal will be implemented next year.
The Student Academic Council and the Board of Governance already unanimously approved the reading day proposal.
The reading day proposal, previously known as the study day proposal, has been a student government initiative since 1992. The purpose of the reading day is to leave the Friday before exams week open for students to study, meet with professors or work on projects. Currently Saint Mary's holds classes through the Friday before exams week and considers the Saturday and Sunday as study days.
A study day survey, conducted by student government, found that 89 percent of students, out of 763 surveyed were in favor of a reading day at the end of semesters.
If approved by the AAC the reading day proposal will be implemented into the 2003-04 academic calendar as a pilot program.
All News Stories for Monday, February 17, 2003
