Provost Robert Groves announced a new initiative this winter aimed at curbing the amount of lost class time due to inclement weather. Called Academic Continuity Planning, the program seeks to distinguish “between campus closure and class cancellation.” In a letter to Georgetown faculty, Groves indicated that “under the new policy, classes will not be officially canceled in the event of a campus closure.” Yet the Provost’s new policy has the potential to result in unintended consequences.
The Provost’s plan gives professors the option of holding class even in the event of a campus closure. If a professor is unable to make it to campus, Groves’s initiative still requires them to make up lost class time. Options outlined on the Academic Continuity website include mandatory Blackboard discussion threads and lecture captures.
Some professors, however, may interpret the requirement to make up lost class time as an impetus to assign more reading and homework instead of asking students to respond to already-assigned materials. Such assignments can take far longer than a normal class period, and are unfair to students who have already completed what has previously been assigned on the syllabus. Furthermore, students with jobs and internships unaffected by university closures may still have to uphold those responsibilities in the event of inclement weather.
Additionally, technology by itself is a poor substitute for classroom-based learning. As anyone who has ever relied on a lecture capture knows, listening to a professor speak through a computer is far different than engaging with the material in class. The potential for glitches also drastically undercuts the ability of professors to communicate ideas to their students, something which Groves’s program ignores.
In the end, however, the most damaging aspect of the Provost’s policy is that it takes choice away from professors. If the progression of a syllabus is dependent on holding every class, a professor is well within his or her rights to make arrangements with students to convey the relevant missed material. By requiring instructors to make up classes, Groves forces some professors to teach information in a way that they do not feel is ideal, or even useful.
Weather is unpredictable. If a truly substantial number of classes must be cancelled, then holding make-up days at the end of the semester during study days is an acceptable last resort—but students and professors should not be required bear any additional burdens due to the onset of a few days of inclement weather.
