AS I sat down to write my last column of the semester, I could not help but feel utterly incapable of thinking about anything besides the amount of work ahead of me in the next two and a half weeks. As if final exams are not bad enough, I am also blessed with professors who all have the same idea of assigning papers due on the last days of classes. Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining about doing work. I am simply frustrated at how little students' concerns seem to matter in the grand scheme of things at the University.
It all started last spring when we learned of the changes made to the academic calendar. The decision to extend Fall Break by one day and shorten Thanksgiving Break by essentially four was a poor one. And yet, the University chose to weigh the concerns of the faculty over the concerns of the student body.
The final exam schedule this semester has also been affected by the calendar change. Instead of classes ending on a Tuesday, like in previous years, classes now end on Friday, which means we have a whole week of classes for professors to use for extra assignments and tests that we will never see our grades on. And on top of that, our Winter Break is shortened as well. We go home later, and we now return to school on a Wednesday, only to get the next Monday off for Martin Luther King Day.
For in-state students, some of these changes seem minor. But for out-of-state students, they can be a real nightmare. Considering the University prides itself on its diverse student body, hailing from 48 different states and 106 foreign countries, it has failed us miserably this year.
And beyond simple calendar changes, we also learned that the University decided to no longer count AP credits towards registration for the spring semester. I understand that some students do not have the opportunity to take AP classes in high school, and they feel that they are at a disadvantage compared to students with loads and loads of AP credits. But to completely disregard the work many students did in high school (once again, especially out-of-state students who needed a little extra something on their transcript) is not right. The previous way of counting credits was unfair, as some students could register two or three days before the rest of their class. But when the University does not announce these changes, it has negative consequences. Students with AP credits have the luxury of not having to take 15 credits a semester. After-all, that is the point of earning college credits in high school. By suddenly deciding to no longer count AP credits, now these students are the ones registering much later than the rest of their class. This change should have been made for the fall semester and for entering first-years. To change it for students already in their second, third, or fourth year is simply unfair.
The University needs to take students seriously and consider our opinions when making changes that affect the entire student body. I don't mean to sound like the Grinch, but sometimes it feels like the University needs a little wake up call to realize what is really important: us. Yes, the Capital Campaign is great, and Al Groh did an arguably decent job earning his almost $2 million paycheck this year.
But at the end of the day, we are the ones who pay large amounts of money to be here, and the quality of our education is the reason every member of the University community is here as well. It is not too much to ask for a little consideration around the holidays or during the already stressful registration process. Whatever happened to the idea of putting blue book dispensers outside of major lecture halls? And whatever happened to professors understanding that assigning a big paper or test just days before a final exam is not a good idea?
In the end, all I want for Christmas this year is a little respect -- and maybe A's in all of my classes. We can all wish, right?
Lindsay Huggins's column appears Mondays in The Cavalier Daily. She can be reached at lhuggins@cavalierdaily.com.
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