Faculty feedback form on spring break placement
(fall semester 2019)
N = 114
Background:
The District Calendar Committee would like faculty feedback on the placement of spring break for academic years 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 (which are still conventional, non-compressed semesters) to right after the ninth week of instruction.
Currently fall flex days are placed at the end of eighth and beginning of the ninth week of instruction, which closely aligns with the middle of fall semester for 9-week sessions.
However, spring break is currently placed in the first full week in April (after the eleventh week), which means that late-start 9-week session students:
- have no break between early- and late-start 9-week sessions; and
- have a week-long break in instruction one or two weeks after the beginning of the late-start 9-week session.
Motivation:
Moving spring break for the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 academic calendars to after the ninth week of instruction would better serve the increasing number of students taking 9-week courses, and would be consistent with the current placement of fall semester flex days in dividing early and late start 9-week courses.
Summary and informational notes:
- Spring break 2020 and spring break 2021 would remain unchanged (first full week in April).
- Proposed spring break 2022 would move from first full week in April (Monday 4/4 to Saturday 4/9) to Monday, 3/21 to Saturday, 3/26.
- Proposed spring break 2023 would move from first full week in April (Monday 4/3 to Saturday 4/8) to Monday, 3/20 to Saturday, 3/25.
The results of this survey will be reported to the next meeting of the District Calendar Committee in January 2020, and be published publicly online as well.
Proposal:
Are you in favor of placing spring break after the ninth week of the semester at Cuesta College?
Yes. ***************************************************************************** [68%; 77 votes]
No. *********************** [23%; 26 votes]
No opinion/not sure. *********** [10%; 11 votes]
The following are all of the optional comments to this question, verbatim and unedited.
"I marked not sure because breaks because my midterms for the 18-week courses tend to fall during the 10th week, which makes scheduling them very difficult, so I would prefer that breaks NOT happen during the 9th/10th week. But I understand about the 9-week courses. (Which are technically 8-week courses, if offered during the second 9 weeks in spring.) Additionally, I would like to see and end to mid-semester Flex Days because of the disruption to courses."
"From a purely Cuesta College instructional standpoint, it makes sense to place the break between the 1st and 2nd 9 week courses. From a personal perspective, especially for those of us who have children in school, aligning our break with our local K-12 districts eases the logistical burden of having a different spring break that our children."
"Some attempt should be made to line up spring break with the K-12 schools. Even though not all school districts have the same break, any alignment is better than no alignment. Our current calendar DOES line up with at least one school district. Our students with children are deeply and negatively impacted when our break does not line up. Further, a 'family-friendly' and supporting institution should support its own working parents in this regard."
"I think that spring break should be tied to Easter, except in years when Easter falls after week 9 (and then be placed in week 9) so that it is more likely to align with local schools. Low-income and single parents should not be expected to choose between going to class and taking care of their kids. I’m disappointed that even though I have given this feedback in every calendar survey the calendar committee never seems to take it seriously."
"I firmly believe that the current spring break schedule is the BEST! I enjoy the 8th/9th week flex day schedule. Additionally, aligning Spring Break with SLCUSD K-12 allows for the many employees and especially our students at Cuesta with children (THERE ARE MANY!!!) in the school district an actual spring break. Without this alignment, there is no opportunity for an actual spring break for Cuesta employees and students and in fact it is twice the work trying to schedule child care while working or attending classes. I have personally had several students over the years not attend classes for a week due to the child care issue. It should be noted that child care is a nationwide concern, not just here at Cuesta."
"The current spring break placement coincides with the spring break of SLCUSD and makes it easier for faculty and staff with school-age children to manage the break."
"Good idea!"
"Seems to me this still only leaves eight weeks for the second '9-week' classes--which is fine with me as my classes are adjusted to eight weeks since we always lost spring break week in any case."
"I think faculty and students alike benefit by having the break fall later than midway, so that there is less of the term still left to completed afterward."
"I find it easy to plan when it is always the same week, so whatever you decide, let's keep it the same week each spring."
"I prefer to have spring breaks that line up with SLCUSD or Cal Poly districts. It is confusing for the community to have differing academic schedules. However, I understand the preference to have a break in the middle and include within that time the flex days similar to the fall semester. Therefore I am withholding an opinion. Look, the vast majority of our faculty teach at both Cuesta and Poly. We should have those spring breaks align. To not do so burdens our most precariously situated faculty, and they could use a break."
"I'd like spring break to fall at the same time as the SLCUSD calendar."
"I personally still favor spring break being the week before or after Easter. The first week of April has been okay, it's aligned with my children's spring break twice, but I wouldn't like it any earlier. It is beneficial for many of our students who are parents to have our spring break align with the local school districts."
"This really needs to be coordinated with the K-12 spring breaks to help faculty with children."
"During spring break, I encourage my late-start students to read and prepare for their term project (due two weeks after spring break)."
"Although my department may not be greatly affected by the change in spring break, I do wonder about the impact of shifting content and exams to accommodate this change."
"Any chance we could move October flex days to the three days before Thanksgiving?"
"I prefer the break later."
"Why not a choice to align with Easter as in the past?"
"It's likely hard because of the semester length difference but it may help PT faculty that work at Cuesta and Hancock to have our calendars match up more closely (there would be an actual break!)"
"Very reasonable change."
"Are we the only school in the county that meets the day before Thanksgiving? If so, then that's quite a disservice to many of our students. Just saying."
"I never give my 9-week classes a break during spring break, but it makes sense to move it and make it a little easier because it's awkward that way."
"Some of the rationale provided doesn't convince me that a change is necessary, as 1) not all students who sign up for a 9-week class sign up for another 9-week class immediately following and 2) online instruction means that even though students get a break two week into a 9-week class, that they probably still have assignments and or work that they can complete through the online modules. What would be best for students and faculty alike is if we could manage to always align Spring Break with San Luis Coastal, as many faculty and students have children (or siblings) in SLCUSD and coordinated breaks would be a great help (in arranging child care, etc.)."
"I would prefer we are aligned with Cal Poly's spring break. This is especially true if we want to market our classes to Poly students."
"The first full week in April is in perfect alignment with my course plan. I am tired of rearranging my course content to match Cuesta's spring break moving target."
"Please continue to align spring break with the K-12 schedule for local districts. The hardship posed to families and single parents with younger children by not having spring break align outweighs the desire to have a week between 9-week sessions."
"I would like spring break to align with the local schools."
"The motivation blurb said it best...'better serve students!'"
"It should be done more consistently. Just make it after week 9 every year. Don't know why calendar changes are so glacial here. What are people doing all year?"
"To me, it makes no sense to have spring break so near the end of the semester as it has been."
"Makes sense to do it at the end of the ninth week. Thank you for improving the calendar."
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