Too Little, Too Late?

Fall break, a time where students have a week to visit family, celebrate holidays, and generally have a break from going to classes. For students at California State University, Monterey Bay (CSUMB), this break falls within the last few weeks of the fall term.

For some students and teachers the time frame is not ideal. The problem that many say they have with the timing of fall break is that when everyone comes back from break there is only one week before finals start in many classes.

“I think the majority of students benefit from a break, no matter when it falls,” Eric Ross, senior, Environmental Science technology and Policy, said. “A break earlier in the fall would probably be less chaotic for students or staff so that they might actually be able to sit back and enjoy it.”
Some faculty members of CSUMB have expressed their own concerns about the fall break timing.

Dr. Estella Porras, head of the Journalism and Media Studies program, stated that the timing with the break was poor because she has children in K-12 whose fall break is near the beginning of October. She expressed frustration in that hers and her children’s breaks do not line up, which, she said, made it so that her and her family could not have a vacation together.

According to CSUMB professor, Dr. Josina Makau, the school had a fall break that was “similar to a spring break” in mid-October. This break ”provided the faculty time to prepare lessons for the rest of the term and so that the students had time to work on large-scale projects outside of the classroom.“

Makau went on to say that the University administration were the ones that made the final decision on moving the fall break to its current place on the calendar, the week of Thanksgiving.

Petra Valenzuela, the manager of the Academic & Centralized Scheduling department at CSUMB, explained why.

“When five days were taken off in October as vacation/break by faculty and students, our Assessment/Final Exams ran into Christmas week each year, therefore it made more sense to take three days during Thanksgiving. Also many of the students were not attending classes during Thanksgiving week.”

She also went on to say that the CSU system requires a number of faculty planning days as set by the CSU Chancellor. She said that the current calendar meets these requirements.

While the administration defends its decisions, there are still those who have raised concerns over the placement of the fall break and the possibility of interfering with those students working on their senior capstone.

“Having this break so close to the end of the semester means I lose a week of full access to the school resources, faculty, and other students that I need to work on my graduation capstone requirements,” said Aaron Snyder, senior, environmental science technology and policy. Snyder also explained that, “when we (the students) come back from this fall break, we are having to jump right back into our capstones which start being presented the very next week. Its stressful and it feels like the school gives those who are graduating in fall less recognition (than those who graduate in the spring).”

This statement has been echoed by a number of CSUMB students, “The current break does generally fall around when most group projects would be going on and therefore… one or two people who didn’t leave for the break might be stuck with the work,” said Ross.

Valenzuela argued, “No, I haven’t heard any negative feedback from either faculty or students. I know some of the faculty that was here during the early years, and they haven’t said anything negative that got back to me. I think they actually enjoy the change, as many of them have families and they travel the evening before Thanksgiving. Before the change, classes were held the day before Thanksgiving.”