A University Council committee has created a task force to study whether fall break should continue to be the Thursday and Friday before the Georgia-Florida football game.
The task force, formed in September by the council’s Educational Affairs Committee, hopes to make a recommendation by the end of this semester.
University Council has wrestled with the fall break issue several times since the break was created after the university moved to the semester system in 1998. The most recent debate occurred in spring when the council adopted the 2007-2008 academic calendar, which had the break on the football weekend. Some council members argued for moving the break to discourage students from cutting class earlier in the week. The council initially voted to change the date, then rescinded the vote after student members of council objected they didn’t have prior notice the issue would come up.
Following the debate, President Michael F. Adams said he would form a committee to recommend how to resolve the issue once and for all. He subsequently assigned the question to the Educational Affairs Committee.
William Vencill, co-chair of the Educational Affairs Committee, will chair the task force, which will include several faculty members and at least four students as well as the registrar and representatives from Student Affairs.
The task force will hold forums and gather input from students, and may ask deans to poll faculty members. Any recommendation will go to the Educational Affairs Committee, which will decide whether to send it to University Council. The goal is to have a recommendation for the council’s Dec. 7 meeting.
