A professor canceling class is the best thing since sliced bread for most people. However, Auburn University Health Promotion and Wellness Services has started a new program offering substitute teachers.
Instead of a professor canceling a class last minute, a representative from Health Promotion and Wellness Services will come teach the class about different issues on campus, such as drug and alcohol abuse prevention and sexual assault awareness.
“When a faculty member can’t teach a class all of a sudden, we’ll be able to come in and use that time period with your class as an opportunity to get our message out there,” said Health Promotions and Wellness services director Eric Smith.
Smith said Don’t Cancel that Class! has been going on for about four years, but this year a new feature has increased the program’s popularity.
Green Dot, the newest feature of Don’t Cancel that Class!, was designed to bring awareness of sexual assault prevention to Auburn’s campus.
“Green Dot is specifically focused at bystander intervention,” Smith said. “We so often focus on the perpetrator or victim, but bystander looks at what the rest of us are doing.”
The main worry with a program like this was students would not appreciate losing their day off. The majority of students, however, agreed that although having to still go to a lecture after a professor cancels isn’t ideal, it is worthwhile.
“If you’re already supposed to be in class anyway, why not spend 50 minutes hearing about things that are good for you?” said Katie Humphries, junior in public relations.
A large portion of students also agreed the addition of the Green Dot program maximizes the importance of Don’t Cancel that Class!
“Personally, I didn’t even know Safe Harbor existed until recently, and I’m a senior,” said Kylie Stevens, senior in communications. “I feel like that’s a subject we need to be educated on.”
Smith said the issues being discussed through Don’t Cancel that Class! are issues that need to be repeated for the message to be retained.
“I’ve been told that you have to see something at least maybe four times before the message starts to sink in,” Smith said. “You have to hit them with the message here, and then here and here.”
Sara Messina, sophomore in French education, believes that although the program is doing a lot of good, it is also setting a double standard for students.
“If I am expected to attend class each day and have attendance taken, then I will hold my professor at the same expectation,” Messina said. “If he or she doesn’t have to be there, then the student should not have to be either."
Don't Cancel that Class! is primarily targeted at freshman classes because they are usually larger and many of these students may not be as aware of certain issues on campus as upperclassmen are.
Last week alone, Smith said they attended six freshman classes as substitutes for faculty who didn't want to cancel.
"Sometimes the classes we go into are sociology or psychology, and we can use that to fit into what we are discussing with the students," Smith said.
Allison Lavelle, senior in communications, said as a senior, she sees the benefit of the program.
"Some students will probably be annoyed at first, but overall it's a great idea for a program," Lavelle said.
Regardless of how students feel about the program, Smith said it is important to discuss issues that students often have little exposure to or awareness of.
"This is just another way to get outreach out there that may capture a student who otherwise may not hear what we have to say," Smith said.
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