Saturday, Interrupted

So, Saturday classes are a thing now. But frankly, I’m not sure I care. Sure, some things got moved around, but it’s better than the alternatives.

When Hurricane Sandy cancelled school last semester, the decision then was to eliminate the final exam period and have classes continue into the time final exams would typically happen. This by no means got rid of final exams – instead exams usually given 4 hours were given in the class time allotted them. This could have happened this semester.

Then there’s the option that many elementary and high schools took, where the extra days off were simply taken out of the breaks. Imagine if instead of coming to school on Saturday, Stevens had made students come in for winter break.

And finally, there’s the option that some professors have already elected to take instead of Saturday classes – to simply have the students make up the work themselves. I had a professor simply hold a webinar during the Thursday snowday and tell students that the homework would be due online that day. A variant on the above method was to simply make up the work during class, as I have seen at least one professor due by moving double speed for one lecture.

All in all, I’m okay with coming in during a few Saturdays, even though it really messes with my schedule.