It's three days until Spring Break — and Provost Terry King won't let us forget it.
Instructing office staff to make sure students and professors aren't skipping class on Friday, he may be taking his initiative a little too far.
It's a waste of time for those employees, and it's becoming more of a waste for those of us that are supposed to be in the classroom, too. Some classes, for example, meet on Mondays and Wednesdays; Fridays are normally used for work outside of class.
But, Mr. King, we'll hand it to you, these classes will be meeting for a third time this week just to make sure they don't get caught. One professor, for example, isn't letting students skip unless they have a plane ticket in hand to show they've made prior plans that can't be changed.
We get it. If we were given Friday off, we'd end up inching out the door Thursday afternoon. Some of us will always be testing the waters for what we can get away with.
But now we're stuck in Muncie another day — and maybe it's just for a one-hour class at 3 p.m. and a pizza party. It's starting to feel like the last few days before winter break back in fourth grade: a movie and a pizza party.
At a recent University Senate meeting, the provost addressed faculty and the handful of students who serve on the council with a warning about skipping class.
"That is not allowed," he said. "It is not allowed at all."
He continued his appeal: "Encourage your colleagues in your units not to cancel class the Friday before Spring Break. It is inappropriate."
We wonder if we'll see the provost walking the hallways looking for empty classrooms on Friday, too.
For those of us not brave enough to skip, at least we have something to look forward to: extra credit on Friday.
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