Some Auburn students may have to do more than just read during this semester's reading day.
Auburn University has elected to allow teachers to use May 4, the day between the end of classes and the beginning of finals, to catch up on materials missed when classes were cancelled due to hazardous winter conditions Feb. 12.
"It's one option," said Emmett Winn, the provost and vice president of academic affairs. "There are four options available to the faculty that they can use to catch up on anything they may have missed when classes were canceled."
The first option available to faculty is to hold an extra day of classes on reading day, also known as "dead day." Any class affected by the February cancellation would meet at the regular time and place on reading day. Faculty may also elect to catch up on the missed materials on a day of their choosing between now and May 4.
Winn said any teacher who wants to hold an extra class on a day besides reading day must have it approved by every member of the class and the class' department.
Teachers may also chose to make up the missed day through an electronic resource such as Blackboard or an external Web site set up by the teacher.
The last option for faculty is to cover whatever was missed during scheduled class time. "Most of the faculty I've talked to have already chosen to cover what they missed in class," Winn said. Winn said the University wanted to give the faculty as many options as possible.
"In some cases, especially within departments with specialty lab courses where a specific environment is needed, this may have some effect," Winn said. "I don't think it will impact many courses because most labs aren't on Fridays."
Winn said the University did not expect to cancel classes because of dangerous winter conditions.
"There are parts of the country where the schedules build in extra days for snow days," Winn said. "But that's not something we usually do."
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