USG proposes introducing USC fall break

The Undergraduate Student Government has begun conversations with the administration about the addition of a fall break into the academic calendar. Next week, USG President Andrew Menard will meet with the Academic Calendar Committee to propose a modified calendar.

“Logistics play a huge role in this project,” Menard said. “There needs to be thought given to how we would change the entire calendar that 18,000-plus students, plus faculty, will operate by, and that doesn’t happen overnight.”

Before Thanksgiving break, USG created a survey to gauge students’ interest in adding a fall break, as well as their preferences for how exactly the calendar would change and why extra days off might benefit them, potentially as a way to relieve stress. The survey received over 1,200 responses, most in support of the break.

“We wanted to get an idea of what students would want,” said Nicole Schrad, USG director of academic affairs. “Ninety-three percent of students said they would like a fall break, and 96 percent said it would be beneficial for mental health.”

Students cite many reasons for why a fall break should be implemented, among them that they need time to relax before late November, that students living far away from home should have an earlier opportunity to visit family and that many academically prestigious universities already have fall breaks. The administration at USC, Menard said, has been receptive to these points, but due to conflicts with scheduling the academic year, it has not yet created a calendar that includes such a break.

“It’s challenging for the university to implement,” Menard said. “We have to have 73 instructional days in the fall and spring, and we can’t start any earlier because of housing issues and summer school programs. It’s just a matter of coming up with a reasonable proposal that satisfies everyone.”

Students outside of USG were also instrumental in getting this project off of the ground, including Christina Nour, a junior majoring in civil engineering, who first wrote a Facebook post in November about USC needing a fall break. Soon after, she was asked by USG to become involved with their efforts to introduce one.

“As someone who just returned from a semester off due to mental health, I really think that USC needs to give us at least one three- or four-day weekend in the middle of the semester,” Nour said.

She stressed this isn’t an instance of students’ arbitrarily complaining, but rather a matter of mental health that should serve as a major source of concern.

“This isn’t just an, ‘Oh, suck it up and get over it,’ kind of thing,” Nour said. “It affects the mental health of students and could lead to one of us doing something stupid or attempting to take our life because of stress. If there’s anything USC can do to release this stress, it could be really helpful for everyone.”

Menard said that he is optimistic and hopes that, if his calendar proposal is accepted, it will be implemented by 2016. Whatever happens, he said, he is glad that USG has the opportunity to discuss a topic that students are passionate about with the calendar committee.

“This year, we’ve done a really great job at focusing on students from every community at USC,” USG Vice President Rini Sampath said. “This is a new project that I think affects all students on this campus, and I think that’s an exciting notion for us. This is just another open door for an improved undergraduate experience.”