This upcoming week, students in most academic divisions of Emory University will attend their final lectures of the semester on Monday and Tuesday. Those enrolled in Emory College of Arts and Sciences are granted a single reading day this fall to prepare for their finals.
This “reading period” is a longstanding practice in universities and is among the shortest amidst comparable academic institutions. Harvard University grants students of its college seven reading days, while Washington University in St. Louis sets aside five days before the start of final examinations.
We strongly believe that a single reading day is insufficient for the academically engaging nature and tremendous rigor of the courses taught in the College, and it does little to diminish students’ necessity to forgo sleep in order to prepare themselves for upcoming final examinations. Studies by researchers at The University of California, Los Angeles show that the loss of sleep in favor of studying late into the evening, otherwise known as cramming, is counterproductive for the students involved.
We wish to, once again, urge Dean Robin Forman, The Office of the Registrar, The Office of the Provost and other college administrators to take steps in order to ensure students have an adequate period of time to prepare for their final examinations.
Though the ideal solution would be to allocate at least one additional reading day in the future for the fall semester, which would bring it to parity with the spring’s standard two reading days, we recognize the possible cost this could have on the university in order to retain faculty and staff for an additional day.
Alternatively, Emory College can adopt a policy used at many universities around the country of deeming the week before final examinations a “dead week.” Adopting this policy will not limit a professor’s ability to cover new topics and assign homework in order to reenforce lectures, but would prohibit any projects, essays, quizzes or tests during that period.
We think that a standardized and enforced “dead week” will allow students to begin studying for finals earlier than they have been able to in the past because it will clear away the threat of other academic distractions which, remove a student’s attention from finals.
Until the administration acts, we hope the Student Government Association and divisional councils will use their power as student advocates to lobby for positive change as the transition from the academic year to final examinations occurs at Emory.
We recognize that professors are at the heart of the academic inquiry this university is noted for, and the ability to learn from them is a distinct privilege of each student enrolled at Emory. However, we ask professors to understand the time constraints that each student is under near the end of the semester and be considerate when determining whether to schedule assignments that are due as the term comes to a close.
The above staff editorial represents the majority opinion of the Wheel.
This article was corrected on Dec. 7, 2014 at 8:10 p.m. to reflect a change in the fifth paragraph, where the word “parody” was changed to “parity.”
The Emory Wheel was founded in 1919 and is currently the only independent, student-run newspaper of Emory University. The Wheel publishes weekly on Wednesdays during the academic year, except during University holidays and scheduled publication intermissions.
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I would like no reading days. I’m already ready for my exams, but I have to wait until Dec 15 and 16 to take them. There’s nothing new to learn. I’m just going to be sitting around forgetting the material. I’ll have to just rememorize everything next weekend. Can I take them tomorrow? (I have 3 math finals).