University schedules Saturday final for fall

by Lily Rabil | February 4, 2010 | Montana Kaimin

Friday night of finals week is usually a time for celebration, but next semester it will be a time for studying. During the winter break, the University of Montana approved a Saturday final for the fall 2010 semester.

Provost Royce Engstrom said the final was a way to fit in the required number of school days. This is an accreditation year for UM and that means an accrediting agency will review the University to make sure it’s meeting certain standards, one of which is that it must have 75 instructional days per semester. Due to elections, Nov. 2, 2010 acts as a holiday for students, staff and faculty, leaving the University one day short. 

Engstrom said the only logical choice was making the Monday of finals week a regular school day and bumping the finals schedule to include part of the weekend.

Failing to meet the 75-class-day minimum would be a minor offense, but if the University were to lose its accreditation, students would not be eligible for state and federal aid and degrees would not be legitimate. 

Engstrom said he knows students and faculty would rather not have a Saturday final, but that it was the least intrusive option.

Registrar Ed Johnson said the Wednesday before Thanksgiving break was considered, but there was a concern that students would “blow off” the week for travel.

He said it was unfortunate that the calendar fell this way for the fall semester. He said students pay a lot to attend the University and hopes they will take full advantage of their opportunities.

“One would hope they’d want to get all the education possible,” Johnson said, “even if it falls on a Saturday.”

While some students said taking one Saturday out of winter break won’t be a big deal, others had a stronger reaction.

“Wow,” freshman Beth Cooper-Chrismon said. “That’s just a really bad idea.”

She said holding class on Monday is going to interrupt studying for a lot of students. She hopes professors will use it as an opportunity to review material rather than pile on last-minute work. She said she’d be willing to take finals early if it meant keeping the weekend intact.

“Saturdays are a day of celebration,” Cooper-Chrismon said. “You can’t exactly celebrate when you still have finals left.”

Students Erin Hudson and Ilse Mehus were disappointed but not opposed to the schedule.

“I guess if it’s the only way they could do it, then I don’t have a problem with it,” Hudson said, adding that she wasn’t in favor of taking finals earlier.

Engstrom is worried that professors will give tests the week before to avoid coming in on Saturday.  Professors are always told not to give early finals, he said, but sometimes it happens anyway. He said he knows professors are not any happier than students about coming into class on a Saturday.

Anthropology professor Richard Sattler said he isn’t thrilled about coming in on the weekend. He said he’s not sure what he’ll do for class on the Monday of finals week, but agrees with some students that it seriously upsets the schedule.

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