After four months of debate, the Fruesday schedule still hasn't been amended.
The University Senate approved legislation to abolish Fruesday in favor of a week off school before Thanksgiving Break, but Ball State University President Jo Ann Gora abstained.
Gora reminded University Senate members of the agreement they made when they initiated Fruesday.
"The only reason we went to Fruesday was to eliminate Saturday finals," she said. "That was the deal."
Journalism professor Dan Waechter offered half a smile as he admitted he had chaired the task force that looked into amending the university calendar back in 2005.
He said five ideas were being considered, and Fruesday was not on the top of the list. But after he realized how much support there was for it, especially with Student Government Association, the committee decided to act on it.
Earlier this year, about five years after the initial discussion, Waechter brought up effectiveness of the schedule.
Laura Helms headed a task force through the Undergraduate Education Committee, which researched various academic calendar models.
Arguments against Fruesday focus around the idea that students will be bogged down with three Monday, Wednesday, Friday classes back to back, while students in Tuesday, Thursday classes will miss out on a week of class. Also, classes that meet for five weeks will face scheduling complications.
The proposed schedule approved by four University Senate councils favors a week off for Thanksgiving Break. Monday and Tuesday of that week would constitute Fall Break. This would result in one less day from the Fall Semester calendar.
Gora said she would rather see a day added than dropped from the calendar.
Helms said concerns had been raised in Undergraduate Education Committee meetings about the challenges of having a week off of school only two or three weeks before Winter Break.
Campus Council Chairman Matt Whitlock said he's excited to look at resolving Fruesday from another direction, even if that doesn't mean taking a week off school before Thanksgiving.
"If we're going to lay it on the table and be honest, Fruesday is not working," he said. "Classes [on Fruesday] are not full like they would be on a Friday any other week."
He said people will still disappear on the Friday before break if the amendment had passed, but it wouldn't be of the same magnitude.
In the end, most senators voted for the proposed amendment, but Gora abstained, saying she was not comfortable with the proposal.
Undersecretary to the University Senate Melanie Turner said the Senate will send the amendment to the president. She said there is a document called the Senate Action Form, which tracks where a bill or amendment is in the process of being approved.
Turner said there are a couple options Gora can take, which include forwarding the bill to another University Senate body, rejecting the bill, or approving the bill and forwarding it to the Board of Trustees for approval.
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