With finals week approaching, the emphasis on study time and exam preparation is under discussion and may soon see changes.
Miami University Associated Student Government is working on a bill that suggests the university look into adding reading days to the final exam week schedule.
"A lot of universities have these," Senator Brian Breitsch said during his presentation to student senate.
These reading days would occur after classes end and provide time for "students to recover from the week prior as well as prepare for the upcoming week," according to the proposed bill.
"Currently what we have is our classes end on Friday, you have the weekend and then finals begin on Monday," Secretary of Academic Affairs Narmar Doyle said.
Students would be able to use these days for further independent study time before finals week begins, Breitsch said.
The bill does not specify how many or what days would be designated as reading days.
"We're not asking for a set amount of days," Breitsch said. "We want to give them flexibility to look into our calendar and see what works best."
Doyle said there are no plans for any changes right away.
"This bill is just a suggestion that the registrar look into our exam schedule," Doyle said.
Modeling the idea after other comparable universities, Doyle said the reading days could be the Thursday and Friday before exam week, giving students four days to prepare for exams. However, this could create the possibility of exams beginning on or extending into the weekend.
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Breitsch said he anticipates resistance from the university.
"I think the main argument against this is that when kids have the extra day, whether it's Monday, Monday and Tuesday, it'll just be another day that (students) will be out for the weekend, not studying (and) drinking," he said.
Breitsch said students are more focused on their exams than drinking during finals week.
"The main purpose of this is the facilitation of exam success," he said. "I think that most students, when it comes down to final exam week, want to succeed."
The bill was met with a mix of approval and question from the senate.
"I think this is a great recommendation," Senator Kristina Jimenez said.
Student Body President Heath Ingram questioned how the bill would affect the upcoming university senate vote on limiting the number of exams a student is allowed to take per day.
Pending revision, the bill is expected to go to vote at the end of November. If passed, university senate must approve the bill before changes occur.
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