Pending final approval, UH set to gain 3-day fall break

News – The Daily Cougar By Emily Lincke March 10, 2017

By splitting up the fall semester with a three day break, the Student Government Association is aiming to alleviate the strain placed on students’ mental health from having too many consecutive days of class. | Ram Armendariz/The Cougar
In an effort to improve academic performance and ease mental strain on students, legislation to create a three-day fall break in October — breaking up that semester’s 69 consecutive class days — was passed by the University of Houston’s Student Government Association on Feb. 15.
According to the resolution, UH’s fall semester contains 14 weeks between breaks, while the spring semester has around 9 weeks. The proposed solution would designate the first Monday and Tuesday of October as University holidays.
“This rearrangement of the fall break hopefully will increase student mental health by decreasing stress, even out the spring and fall schedules, and give freshmen and first year transfers the proper time to adjust to college,” said SGA’s Director of Research, Dean Suchy. “All the while, the University still keeps its place having the most days in class compared to other Texas universities.”
If the academic calendar committee approves the change, students will have a Monday and Tuesday off from class during fall semesters, which have one less holiday and one extra class day than spring semesters. To compensate for the added holidays, either Labor Day or a reading day in early December will be converted to a class day, Suchy said.
“Fall semester is often an adjustment period for many students, so implementing a student holiday may offer an additional opportunity for students to engage in self-care and refueling to finish out the rest of the semester,” said Norma Ngo, the director of Counseling and Psychological Services.
Student stress
To investigate the potential impact a fall break could have on UH students, Suchy researched a similar initiative established at ...


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