Campus Council was the final body to approve revising the Fruesday schedule before it goes to University Senate for vote next week.
University Council Chairperson Laura Helms said fixing Fruesday seems like an uncertain task.
"It's dicey," she said. "The thing about Fruesday is it's become a week off."
Fruesday is an alternative schedule used the week of Thanksgiving in which Friday classes are held Tuesday. It was proposed a few years ago by faculty concerned with students in Friday classes getting behind since they were missing class for Fall Break and again for Thanksgiving break.
Discussion was raised during an October meeting of the University Senate Agenda Committee about the effectiveness of the schedule, since many professors have ended up cancelling class on that Tuesday.
Over the past month, the Agenda Committee, Faculty Council and University Council have approved a revision, which eliminates Fruesday in favor of a week off for Thanksgiving Break, effectively eliminating Fall Break.
Campus Council was the last body to approve this revision before it can be voted on at the University Senate meeting Thursday.
Assistant Provost Jacquelyn Buckrop said she's in favor of eliminating Fruesday, but she's not sure what a better solution might be. She said she's concerned students who are struggling in classes won't have time to catch up before Winter Break, which will come two or three weeks after Thanksgiving Break. She said her biggest concern is for freshmen. In public schools, students are used to having no break between Labor Day and Thanksgiving, she said.
Freshman Jullian Irving, a representative from Student Government Association, said she'd support having a week off school.
"I can manage my time," she said. "I still had class that day, me and five other kids in the class."
Buckrop said if students and professors are skipping class on Fruesday, they might also skip the Friday before Thanksgiving Break.
"I can play the cynic," she said, "and say if we do this, people won't go to class on Friday."
Buckrop said she thinks it's unfortunate that the discussion is centered on only anecdotal evidence. She suggested looking at nutrition rates and retention rates to see if the approach is effective.
Faculty and administrators agreed there's no good answer to the problem. But after half an hour of discussion, they decided to approve the legislation, and forwarded the amended Fruesday schedule to University Senate for a final vote.
Old business discussed included using Cardinal Cash in the Village and changing the focus of the smoking policy.
Chairperson of Campus Council Matthew Whitlock said research and legislation about using Cardinal Cash off campus probably won't be resolved this year.
"Sometimes it gets lost between slates in SGA," he said. "It seems like a platform that comes up every year."
Irvin gave an update on the smoking policy. She said after SGA visited with the chapter from Purdue University, the group decided to redirect its focus from enforcing a smoking ban to educating students on the current policy.
She said SGA plans to hold an awareness week next year including trivia games at the Scramble Light and a student forum.
Whitlock said he thinks students know where smoking areas are, but they need to be reminded of the policies.
"It needs another [public relations] push," he said.
Buckrop said students used to hold each other accountable for smoking in designated areas.
"There was a lot of self-policing and policing each other, but you don't see that anymore," she said.
What: University Senate meeting
When: 4 p.m. Feb. 18
Where: Teachers College room 102
Why: To discuss items slated by governing bodies including calendar revisions, an online voting policy for Senate meetings, and other items.
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