Nicholls administrators released a revised academic calendar after hurricanes Gustav and Ike caused the University to cancel seven class days in September. According to Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs Laynie Barrilleaux, the academic calendar had to be revised to meet requirements set forth by the Board of Regents, which governs higher education in Louisiana. The Board of Regents requires classes to meet for a certain number of minutes each semester.
“This is a new policy for the Board, but we continue to use the old policy,” Barrilleaux said.
The old policy had extra class days built into the academic calendar. Barrilleaux said the University kept the extra days for situations such as an approaching hurricane requiring classes to be canceled.
One of the first changes students will notice to the academic calendar occurs in October. Fall break, which was originally scheduled for two days, is now one day. Oct. 9 is a make up class day for Hurricane Gustav.
Lab classes that normally meet on Fridays will meet on Oct. 10 as a make up class day for Hurricane Gustav. Only students with Friday labs have class on Oct. 10. For all other students, Oct. 10 is fall break.
According to Barrilleaux, student input was requested when revising the academic calendar. Student Government Association President Alex Barnes attended all of the University’s meetings about the academic calendar.
“He (Barnes) presented it to SGA,” Barrilleaux said. “They asked that fall break not be taken away.”
The study day originally scheduled for Friday, Nov. 21 is now a Hurricane Ike make up class day with Friday lab classes meeting also.
The University added two more class days at the end of the semester. Classes will be held on Dec. 1 and 2, when Nicholls reopens after the Thanksgiving holiday.
Final exams will begin on Dec. 3 and end on Dec. 9.
Barrileaux said that the University hopes the revisions to the academic calendar will allow students to complete the semester with the least amount of disruptions possible.
According to Barrilleaux, making revisions to the academic calendar can be challenging, because when one day is changed, it is possible another day will need to changed as well.
“It’s definitely like putting together a jigsaw puzzle with a lot of pieces,” Barrilleaux said.
The University had to take into consideration what classes were canceled. If the class was on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays or Tuesdays and Thursdays had to be taken into account, Barrilleaux said. In addition, the University had to consider evening classes, Friday afternoon lab classes and students enrolled in 7-on 7-off courses.
“There’s a domino effect with so many things. Moves back shift the entire year,” Barrilleaux said. “Intercession was moved back. If we had a few more missed days, it would have affected the spring semester.”
There are a variety of ways to make up class days that the University considered. Barrilleaux said that following Hurricane Rita, McNeese started classes earlier in the day and held classes into the Christmas break.
Barrilleaux said that the University considered holding classes on Saturday, but decided not to pursue that alternative.
“Our goal is to maintain the integrity of the semester,” Barrilleaux said. “Our intentions are good. We do sometimes make mistakes.”
According to Barrilleaux, University President Stephen Hulbert has been very understanding throughout the entire process. Barrilleaux said that during Hulbert’s tenure as president of the University, he has experienced some of the worst tropical systems to affect Nicholls.
