Members of student government’s University Affairs Committee unanimously approved legislation advocating to administrators for a two-day “reading break” in October, similar to other schools’ fall breaks.
In a survey sent to the entire UW-Madison student body, 84 percent of students said they would support the break.
Danielle Gries, the original drafter of the legislation, said the break would allow students to catch up on work and visit family while helping faculty and staff catch up on grading and research.
“I think it would be beneficial to students because right around where we want to have the break there are a lot of midterms and projects coming up,” Gries said. “I think students would really appreciate a two-day break where they can actually study and get things done.”
Gries said other institutions similar to UW-Madison, such as the University of Michigan, and throughout Wisconsin, such as Marquette and Edgewood, also have fall breaks.
Associated Students of Madison Chief of Staff David Gardner said the break could be incorporated into the campus movement to be more efficient with resources and academics, known as educational innovation.
“A big part of [educational innovation] is calendaring and how we can change our calendar so that it’s more effective and achieves a more effective academic atmosphere,” Gardner said.
Committee members said they are working to get the Teaching Assistants Association to endorse the legislation and University Committee Chair Sade Johnson told members to ask their professors if they would endorse the break.
