SNHU’s first reading day will be held on Friday, February 17th. Penmen Weekly announced the rest day to the SNHU community on January 1. Classes will not be held on this day to give students extra time to prepare for upcoming midterms.
“Athletics, campus-based events, student employment, and academic activities based outside the classroom such as student teaching and internships will all continue unless otherwise noted,” said Penmen Weekly.
Dr. Cara Procek, the Vice President of Academic Affairs, discussed what inspired this event.
“All of us [teachers] remembering and knowing and looking at the students in our classes and appreciating how intense college is…and looking for an opportunity to give students some breathing space,” said Procek.
Faculty have expressed concerns about how students can adjust to the school calendar that resulted in a shorter break between semesters. A process began to help students.
“We thought if we gave students sort of a break, a reading day is like a time to absorb what you’ve learned and kind of prep yourself for the next step,” said Procek.
Procek used to be a teacher and understands the struggles students face. She expressed how much the faculty cares about students’ experiences.
“[Professors] absolutely care and want the absolute best thing for students all of the time,” said Procek.
Procek hopes to get student feedback about the reading day.
“We want to find out a few things. Did it work for you? Did it make a difference? Would it have been better at a different time? Would it have been better on a different day? Those kinds of things. We want to get some student input and then look at this as some kind of practice going forward,” said Procek.
The campus will be open and all other campus services will remain accessible on the reading day.
