{"id":41369,"date":"2017-12-09T15:53:22","date_gmt":"2017-12-09T22:53:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/?p=41369"},"modified":"2017-12-09T15:59:38","modified_gmt":"2017-12-09T22:59:38","slug":"is-it-time-for-a-fall-break-at-sait-some-think-so-some-dont","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/2017\/12\/09\/is-it-time-for-a-fall-break-at-sait-some-think-so-some-dont\/","title":{"rendered":"Is it time for a fall break at SAIT? Some think so, some don’t"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Michael Kaufman, Electrical Apprenticeship student is photographed at SAIT in Calgary on Monday, Dec. 4, 2017. Kaufman gives his opinion on fall reading break, and whether or not SAIT should infiltrate it into students’ schedules. (Photo by Amy Nopper\/SAIT)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

W<\/span>ith the fall semester coming to a close, stress levels increase, and the questions about a fall reading week arise.<\/p>\n

S<\/span>AIT is one of the few post-secondary institutions in Alberta that don’t have a fall semester reading week, and there is debate about its potential benefits for students.<\/p>\n

After completing his first year in the Broadcasting program at SAIT, Michael Kaufman is now in the Electrical Apprenticeship program.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s not enough time in an eight-week course for a reading week, but our final exam, the TQ, is an exam that covers material from all three classes and you need a 75 per cent on it to pass the course,” said Kaufman.<\/p>\n

If we had a week before that exam to review all of our course material it would be nice. – Michael Kaufman<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In comparison, Kaufman said, \u201cBroadcasting has a much higher workload.<\/p>\n

“Everything in broadcasting has to be prepared weeks in advance and you always have to take your work home with you, preparing material for your show the next day.<\/p>\n

\u201cElectrical has a far smaller workload in the sense that everything you\u2019re learning is practical, and you don\u2019t often have to take work home with you,\u201d Kaufman said.<\/p>\n

He said that having a small break would have been beneficial for him, in the broadcasting program, to catch up and recuperate.<\/p>\n

Mount Royal University adopted a fall reading break this fall, while the U of C gives students an extended weekend in November. NAIT is currently looking into the possibility of adopting a fall break in the future.<\/p>\n

To date, however, SAIT has made no decision to follow suit.<\/p>\n

An article published by The Star<\/a>, said Queen\u2019s University, \u201chad experienced several cases of suicide in less than two years,\u201d and that they need to \u201cbalance exam timetables, train more staff to spot the signs of severe stress and create a fall break for overwhelmed undergrads.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ultimately, Queen’s chose to opt out of the fall semester break, concluding that a change in scheduling was the answer.<\/p>\n

Students at the University of Lethbridge are granted a reading week in November, but Soubhi Saegh, a neurobiology major, said that it isn\u2019t beneficial for him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that the purpose of reading break isn\u2019t to help you academically. It\u2019s a break we\u2019re given at a time when the likelihood of suicide is highest and it\u2019s meant to be a break from the stress of university,\u201d Saegh said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause we lose a week of classes, some professors expect you to be responsible for teaching yourself a portion of the class material that they no longer have the time to teach.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s kind of a disadvantage, as you probably wouldn\u2019t teach yourself as well as they would teach it to you,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Daniel Jardine, an engineering student at the University of Victoria, said that he would have liked to have a break in the semester, but not for academic reasons.<\/p>\n

\u201c[My] home is in Calgary, and it would have been nice to be able to have a break from life [in Victoria],\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough there is a winter break for that anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jardine said that with the right amount of organization, a break doesn\u2019t seem necessary in the fall.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

People explain the pros and cons of having a reading break [ READ MORE ]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":405,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_ef_editorial_meta_text_assignment-slug":"S5 Reading Break ","footnotes":""},"categories":[711,9,1109,1065,18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-41369","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-featured","7":"category-life","8":"category-mental-health","9":"category-mount-royal-university","10":"category-u-of-calgary"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41369","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/405"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41369"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41369\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41612,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41369\/revisions\/41612"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}