2021-2022 Winter Break: what does Brescia have to say?

In early November, the University Students’ Council (USC) and Western Student Senators (WSS) released a survey to the student body regarding the length of the 2021 Winter Break.

The break only allows six days of rest from December 23rd to January 2nd, 2022, excluding weekends and holidays.

Of over 14,500 submissions, about 97% of respondents said they supported an extension of Winter Break to January 10, 2021, allowing an additional week of rest. Students expressed concern for their mental health, affordability issues with travelling so close to the new year, and their ability to follow covid-19 regulations in such a short amount of time.

However, in an Instagram post, the USC broke the news to its students that the University Senate did not move the motion forward.

The post’s comments all echoed the same question – why not?

 “In relation to the whole winter break fiasco I think what we feared was proved even further. We all knew that Western cared more about their appearances than the student body. But I personally really thought they would extend the break because why ask our opinion just to shut it down” said Tehreem Fatimah, a third-year student at Brescia.

An in-depth explanation of the decision is in Item 7.1 of the Senate’s Agenda on December 3rd, 2021; however, below is a summary of the Senate Chair and Senate Committee on Academic Policy and Awards’s (SCAPA) reasoning:

1)    The sessional dates have been public since September of 2020

2)    Spring reading week for 2022 works around midterm examinations, and there will be consequences for a change in the academic calendar

3)    A change now would interfere with already set travel plans for some students

4)    Non-first entry faculty would not be subject to the change

5)    The approval of last year’s extension was for a different campus environment due to the pandemic

A skim of the USC’s post comments is evidence enough that students do not accept this decision. However, the objections do not stop there; the Buzz spoke with many Brescia students, faculty, and staff that reiterated similar thoughts on the topic.

An anonymous faculty member at Brescia addressed the first claim provided by SCAPA, saying, “It is unreasonable to assume that students and faculty would access that information a year in advance. Particularly since the winter semester generally begins later; because this is out of the ordinary, students have a valid critique in the lack of communication by Western administrators.”

Many students recognized the difference compared to other Ontario campuses; the University of Guelph, Queen’s University, and University of Toronto’s winter semesters begin on January 10th – the date Western refused to extend to. “If all of these other schools managed to give their students the time off they deserve, why didn’t Western do it for us?” 

Another student admitted their confusion, saying, “Why couldn’t it be extended if every other university is longer?”.

Brescia’s Political Science and Writing professor Andrew Chater suggested that, as SCAPA stated, there would be ramifications for a change in the academic calendar.

“I am all in favour for the greater student voice...and would be in favour [of the extended break], but I would hope Western would extend the term so that students do not find themselves with more work in a shorter semester,” said Chater.

With a similar thought, another Brescia professor stated “I question why the university has chosen to ignore over 14,000 student voices, asking them to consider extending the break. We cannot ask for student engagement only to ignore what we deem inconvenient.”

While SCAPA states last year’s Winter Break was approved due to different campus circumstances, Brescia students, faculty, and staff argue this year is just as valid and worthy of an extension.

A fourth-year student at Brescia, Alessia DeMattia, said, “For many including myself we need this time to rest and recharge before we begin the winter semester. Many students aren’t able to go home until the 22nd of December and then we start again on the 3rd of January; it’s just not enough time with the busyness that the holidays bring to allow us to have a true break.” 

To echo this, Professor Monika Lee said she sees both sides of the argument but “would prefer to see Western be responsive to students’ request during a year as challenging as the one they’ve just experienced.”.  

Further, a staff member stated, “In the current climate, with the pandemic and the entrance of the new variant, climbing cases, the events of the fall, I think we should listen to student and faculty level of exhaustion and need for an extended break.”

At the end of Item 7.1, SCAPA made a small statement recognizing “that supporting our student, faculty and staff mental health is of importance to the well-being of our campus community. SCAPA committed to reviewing the Structure of the Academic Year policy at a future meeting to provide discretion for the scheduling of sessional dates when a similar situation arises based on the calendar. SCAPA also recognized that anyone experiencing mental health distress should consult Western’s many Health and Wellness services available on campus.”

While SCAPA may find this suitable, many students echoed Tehreem Fatimah’s thoughts of “A lot of Western’s ‘care’ for their student body’s mental and physical health is extremely performative. When push comes to shove, they just give us more links to “mental health resources.”.