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One buffer day finally enacted
Mental Health Task Force recomnendation instituted nearly three years later
by Colin Reynolds
During last fall's finals week, Grinnell students had an extra day to study--or procrastinate--before their exams.
Administrators called this unscheduled day in the academic calendar on Monday of finals week, a "buffer day" or "reading day." It was added to the preceding Saturday and Sunday, also labeled as buffer days in past academic calendars.
According to Stephanie Masta, RLC for Cowles, Norris and Dibble Halls, the Health and Wellness Task Force originally proposed the buffer day in fall of 2003 in its initial report following its formation.
The Task Force was made up of students, community members, a parent and several individuals from the Student Services and Mental Health offices. It also included Vice President for Student Services Tom Crady, who created the Task Force in response to a hell week book-ended by two suicides during the spring semester of 2003.
"What came out of those meetings was a prevailing idea that students felt very, very stressed," said Masta. "One way to alleviate that stress, they thought, would be to build in some time between when classes end and when finals begin." After the proposal?s introduction, the Curriculum Committee considered the logistical implications of altering the structure of finals week.
It took two years after the Task Force?s initial report for a single buffer day to be instituted.
RLC LeAnne Jones said there was no vocal opposition to an additional buffer day, but that logistical concerns had gotten in the way of immediate implementation.
"Since each semester's schedule is planned out years in advance, it's not easy just to cut off part of the schedule," she said. Trying to alter the finals week with all class schedules in mind was "a logistical nightmare," according to Jones.
Masta said the Task Force rejected another proposal to add the Friday before finals week as a buffer day because it would have fundamentally changed the structure of the academic calendar. Crady agreed that it was the pre-planning of semesters that stalled the proposal. "Right now we're scheduled up through the 2007-2008 academic year," he said.
Student reaction to the extra buffer day varied, ranging from enthusiastic support to apathy or outright opposition. "From what I can see, it just compresses the number of exams into four days and makes you more likely to have two exams in one day," said Aden Stinebrickner-Kauffman '08.
Ted Recio '07 was more enthusiastic. "I doubled up on seminars last semester," he said. "The buffer day saved me; I needed the extra time."
Despite the warm reception some students gave the buffer day, others, like Mary Nesbit '07 felt it didn?t go far enough. "I think it?s bull-crap," said Nesbit. "We have such long breaks at Grinnell. The college should reduce the length of our breaks and use that extra time for study before finals week."
But several students claimed not to have noticed the extra day, since the only testing time slot the college was actually eliminated from finals week was 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Monday morning. The final exam schedules from both the 2003-2004 and 2004-2005 academic years labeled the Monday afternoon time slot "open," indicating that no exams were to be scheduled during this time. Neither Crady, Masta nor Jones had an explanation for this break.
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