Last week, students received an email informing them that NC State was closing housing to all who don’t receive an exemption. The next day, they were notified of a two-day break to assist students with the stress of moving off campus. This break, while greatly appreciated, is simply not sufficient for its intended purpose of enabling a smooth transition to fully distanced education.
We need only look back to last spring semester, when spring break was extended for an additional week to allow professors time to revamp their classes to an online format. During this time, students were discouraged from coming back to campus if possible, and eventually, housing was closed and students were pushed to move home. The housing closure notice gave students six full days to collect their essential belongings during a time period with no classes whatsoever.
Considering that student move-in during normal semesters also happens over the course of a week, it’s simply unacceptable to expect students to move out over the course of a four-day weekend. A full, class-free week is the standard moving procedure; we shouldn’t expect the impossible in the midst of an otherwise stressful environment.
Indeed, this fall, matters are much more complicated than they ever were in spring. Because research and other on-campus activities have not been closed, many students who are involved with these are choosing to find off-campus apartments in or near Raleigh, rather than simply return home, so that they can access lab equipment or other facilities.
Apartment shopping is difficult and confusing at the best of times; requiring students to juggle course requirements while simultaneously reading multiple lease agreements creates excessive and unnecessary stress. Granting us an extended move-out window will give students time to find a stable and healthy living space, instead of forcing them into the first place available due to a lack of time for planning and consideration.
As one of my colleagues wrote recently, with most of the student body moving off campus, our accelerated semester timeline no longer provides any benefit to our health and safety. Before the two-day cancellation was added, we were on track to finish class three weeks earlier than normal, leaving us with a winter break well over a month long, and possibly longer, depending on when spring semester begins.
Instead of insisting on this compressed semester — remember we have precisely zero days off from Wednesday until the end of final exams in November — NC State should relax these requirements and give us a bit more vacation time in between. Although it will be a challenge for professors to shift their schedules around, it would be even more stressful for both them and students to finish this semester at a sprinting pace.
It’s profoundly unfortunate that this semester didn’t go perfectly. The University and students alike have had to make many difficult decisions to keep things on course. This should not have been a difficult decision to make. For the sake of students, faculty and administrators alike, it would have been better if we had come back to the new normal, next Monday, instead of this short two-day break.
