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Thanksgiving week off: A nice extra break or a total disruption?
Students and faculty weight in on how helpful a week off really is
The Advocate
While people normally look forward to vacations, the upcoming Thanksgiving break seems to be creating mixed feelings among students and faculty.
Most students interviewed said they are looking forward to the week-long vacation, given that almost 10 weeks of fall term have passed and a break is appreciated.
“For me I’m really glad to have it because we’ve been working really hard over there (at ASG). It’s really nice to have a break,” said ASG Receptions Coordinator Kate Crabbe.
Asked if the week off will affect her school work, Jungah Lee said, “Well, not really. I like the break.”
In years past, the Thanksgiving break was five days long. Classes were held as usual on Monday and Tuesday, followed a holiday break Wednesday through Friday leading to the weekend. But this year, faculty and staff have given up two days of pay to help overcome the college budget woes. That has created the week-long break.
However, there are other students who see it differently and feel they need more time learning from their instructors and are concerned about the potential increase in student tuition.
“I don’t really like it because I like more time in class, more time to get help from the teachers,” said Justine Browning. Ady Peredo, another student, said she won’t like it because students are paying higher tuition and she doesn’t care about having the whole week off.
Bradley Best, ASG president, said, “We’re students, we pay for the education and we need our instructors. Education is really suffering, so what you pay and what you get in return is diminishing quite a bit.”
With all the plans and activities ASG has planned, Best said the week-long vacation is “not helping us (ASG) much.” In fact, last weekend about 50 percent of the ASG staff attended the vaccination clinic or the OSA conference at Portland Community College so they could get enough work done before the break. “I asked them (ASG staff) to give me as much effort as possible before we lose a week,” said Best.
Faculty and staff members also share varied thoughts and concerns regarding the week-long Thanksgiving break.
“Personally I like it; it makes it kind of nice,” said Christi Hart, director of financial aid. “It’s hard because I know sometimes students want to get things done. You have this conflicting feeling within yourself. It would be nice to be there, to be able to help students but it is nice to have the time off.”
Asked how the week-long vacation will affect photography students, Dana Spielmann, director of the Professional Photography Program, said, “It gives them more time to work on projects. In a way it might be a blessing for them to be able to work (over the break).
Matt Hart, head coach of cross country/track &field, said, “As an instructor, it messes with our continuity but as an individual, it’s great.” Schell Langley, who also works in the athletic department, said, “Any days off feels good. However, it’s going to seem weird.”
Dick Byers, director of facilities management, said, “It will be a splendid relief among staff. They have been working hard for so many months.”
Some instructors and staff members are not as optimistic about the weeklong break. “I think it’s horrible. It’s not good for education. It’s ridiculous,” said Troy Donaldson, a mathematics and engineering instructor.
Asked about the final exam and whether the week off will affect students, Donaldson said, “I think it will. It breaks the rhythm of the term. It’s not good for students, it’s not good for learning. It’s hard for students, I think.”
Regarding the workload over the break, Donaldson said, “It actually gives us (the instructors) the chance to catch up. The problem is you can’t push students hard for a week, then have a week off, and hope that it’s all there when you come back; it won’t be.”
Valory Thatcher, anatomy and physiology instructor, said, “In science, we traditionally don’t have labs running over Thanksgiving week. So in some ways it kind of equalizes it but it does seem to put a weird stop to instruction. A whole week, then a week off class, and then finals. It does seem like it’s a sudden stop right before the end of the quarter.”
MHCC President John Sygielski had a more positive way to see the weeklong vacation for students. Asked if the week off will affect students, he said, “I don’t think so. If anything, it may help (students) because maybe it will allow students to study more, to catch up maybe, and prepare for finals.
“There can be some real advantages and (students can) already start to plan for the next quarter. So this can really give them some focus time. So I see it as it could be positive,” said Sygielski.
The entire campus will be closed next week and no one will be at the college, except for MHCC’s Public Safety staff and a financial aid event next Monday.
“We’re all closed next week,” said Hart from financial aid. “The only thing we are doing is the College Night in Oregon on Monday night. We had to get approval from the president’s cabinet to go ahead and hold the event,”
Asked about the college budget woes, Sygielski said, “It’s the state budget.
That’s really it, there’s nothing more behind it.” ASG President Bradley Best said, “This is kind of a drastic cut but it’s a cut that needs to be made for timing. I don’t like it more than anybody else.”
MHCC instructors and faculty also commented on the colleges’ budget dilemma.
“There’s budget issues with the college. It’s money, pure and simple. The best way to save money is to shut the doors for a few days,” said Donaldson.
Spielmann said, “It’s something that has to be done because of the economic situation and people’s jobs are being saved because of it, I believe.”
Byers said, “Anything we can do to lower our expenses will benefit the college. It helps us conserve energy, confine expenses, and it gives the opportunity (for everyone) to recuperate.”
During the vacation week, Best is going to work on promoting voter registration for Ballot measures 66 and 67, which will affect MHCC’s budget, and has partnered with Defend Oregon to help with voter registration.
When it comes to advice for students over the Thanksgiving break, Donaldson said, “I’ve encouraged them (the students) to do a little bit (of studying) over the break, so they don’t forget.”
Asked about the future, Sygieski said, “It’s just right now for this year but we’re going to have to wait to find out what happens to the ballot measures in January and what happens to the state budget next year. It’s so unfortunate for the faculty and especially for the students. It’s a good thing they have 12 weeks in the fall quarter, so it kind of helps. It would be different if they didn’t have that amount of time.”
The Advocate reserves the right to not publish comments based on their appropriateness.