Sometime between the start of last semester and the beginning of this semester, the University of North Georgia decided to modify Spring Break. The change was from the standard whole week break to a four day weekend from April 1-4. Tuesday, March 9 was also given as a break day.
No email was sent out to inform the student population of how they reached the decision. I asked the school for the reasons behind this action. I also asked a couple of students their opinions on the modifying of Spring Break.
Jay Hinshaw, a Chemistry major, said this about the possible reasons for the modifying:
“They did it because we were all online last semester so we basically had a double summer. I guess they’re trying to have more school this semester to make up for it.”
Nick Langford, a Finance major, had this to say:
“Pushing it back makes sense to have time to give out more vaccines. Shortening it doesn’t make sense because people will still leave regardless, it just makes it more inconvenient.”
I was told to go to the “UNG Announcements and Updates” page to view more information about the reasoning. Under the September 22 update, titled “COVID-19 Update”, it states this:
“We anticipate we will need to continue safety measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19 into spring semester, and we have adjusted the academic calendar accordingly. The semester start and end dates of January 11 and April 30 will remain the same. However, spring break will now be on April 1 and 2, rather than in March. We believe this rescheduled is in the best interest of the university community and wanted to let you know as soon as possible for planning purposes.”
Under the November 5th update, titled “COVID-19 Student Update”, it states this about the modification:
“As you are aware, we have modified the spring academic calendar from the traditional weeklong spring break to a four-day weekend on April 1-4. However, we are also adding an instructional break day on Tuesday, March 9. There will be no classes on that day.”
I managed to contact Dr. Steven Lloyd, Vice Provost at the University of North Georgia and asked about how the decision was made in regards to modifying Spring Break.
“The decision, which was made by the president’s cabinet, was based on the unknown progression of COVID and concern for the health and safety of the university community. There was a need to set the calendar in advance of the start of the semester. Consideration was given to the timing of the breaks to provide a reading day and break for First ad Full session classes and an extended weekend toward the end of the semester for Second and Full session classes with consideration of the Tuesday-Thursday and Monday, Wednesday, Friday schedules.”
