On Tuesday, Oct. 11, the Undergraduate Student Government passed a resolution calling for the reinstatement of Fall Break for the 2023 to 2024 academic calendar.
The resolution was made at an emergency meeting that was held before Michigan Tech University Senate’s Oct. 12 meeting. It is a response to the Senate’s approval of an academic calendar for the 23/24 academic year which did not include the fall break on Sept 28.
Many in favor of the Fall Break believe it will support student mental health, “ I think USG, as well as the Student Affairs office, identifies this as an important cause due to the rising mental health crisis seen both at Michigan Tech and across the country,” said USG President Cheyenne Scott. According to Scott, the resolution “also allows the same for faculty and staff who may otherwise also not have a break from the semester.”
Progress for Fall Break was made around 2021, following the Fall Break that occurred in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. At this time, USG began discussions with the Student Assembly, the Dean of Students Office, and the Graduate Student Government.
Following these discussions, the University Senate passed Proposal 50-22: “Proposal to Pass an October Recess” by a ballot vote on April 20, 2022. According to the proposal, Fall Break— referred to as October Break—would occur the Thursday and Friday of the seventh week of each fall semester. At the same meeting, a vote on Proposal 37-22: “2023-24 Academic Calendar and Provisional Calendar for 2024-25,”—an academic calendar that did not contain the October Break—was postponed.
At a University Senate meeting on Sept. 28, a motion to drop the fall break in 2023 passed by a roll call vote following concerns from the math department and that the academic calendar was six months behind. At the same meeting, the Senate passed Proposal 37-22. The new USG resolution would call for the reimplemention of the break.
USG’s work towards the addition of a fall break is not new. Conversations surrounding the break go back to 2015, with the Academic Calendar Workgroup which included members from both USG and University Senate, as well as members from GSG, the Registrar’s office, and the Dean of Students Office.
