With the cancellation of Spring Recess, Boston University has scheduled “Wellness Days” set for Thursday, March 18 and Wednesday, March 31 to give the school community a break midway through the semester, according to University Provost and Chief Academic Officer Jean Morrison.
Morrison noted a “whole array” of considerations were taken when scheduling the two Wellness Days, which included not scheduling either date on a Monday or Friday to disincentivize travel during the pandemic.
“We knew that we were going to have to find some way to give folks some respite during that time period,” she said.
Morrison added the University was trying to determine which days of the week would be affected so as to not disrupt the pacing of the semester.
Alternatives to the two Wellness Days were discussed, including having individual professors schedule days off from class. She noted a different idea, which would have been to make an impromptu announcement to the university.
“One of the other proposals that came from Student Government was that at some point, probably in March, that I simply announced that there are no classes on a given day,” Morrison said. “Sort of like a snow day.”
That proposal was rejected, she said, to ensure wellness activities could be planned and students would have time to prepare.
Since the official announcement, however, some students have voiced concerns on the BU Reddit page that certain professors are assigning work for the day after the Wellness Days.
Morrison said her office will be reminding the community that Wellness Days should be days off for everyone.
“The critical piece is that no one should be forced into using the day to do additional academic work,” Morrison said.
Students who are concerned should speak with their professors or take their complaints to the dean’s office, Morrison added.
College of Arts and Sciences sophomore Albert Wu said he wishes BU had kept Spring Recess, but having the two Wellness Days is “definitely nice.”
“They’re not obligated to give us any Wellness Days,” Wu said. “It’s better than nothing.”
Aidan Kam, a junior in CAS, said while he understands the cancelation of Spring Recess, he doesn’t agree with the decision.
“I think the Wellness Days idea is honestly kind of a Band-Aid response to a much larger mental health issue,” Kam said, “and kind of deeper cultural issue surrounding how the University deals with mental health.”
Kam said there could have been other actionable ways to keep students on campus without removing the semester’s only days-long break, such as creating a check-in system where students could connect with their resident assistants every few days to prove they were still on campus.
“If they pay RAs with room and board and they train them, they should trust them to do their job honestly,” Kam said. “I think it shows kind of a general distrust of the student body.”
Kam added if the University was intent on removing Spring Recess, giving the student body two Wellness Days is “the bare minimum.”
Morrison cited the extra week that had been added to the end of winter break as the reason there are not more than two Wellness Days.
“Hopefully, people had a chance to rest and rejuvenate,” Morrison said, “but we also understand that, during the pandemic, it was not a normal holiday season.”
Janusz Konrad, a professor in the College of Engineering, said he was initially taken aback by the decision to add mandated Wellness Days.
“I was a little bit surprised,” Konrad said, “because it puts a little bit [of] pressure on our academic schedule and what we deliver in classes.”
However, Konrad said he acknowledged that students need a break during the semester, which the Wellness Days would provide.
“After a bit of thinking, you realize that going straight for whatever, 12, 14 weeks, without any break is kind of tough,” he said. “Students are not in an easy situation these days.”
Konrad said his classes aren’t missing out too much because of the Wellness Days. For one of his classes, he said he is thinking about combining two presentation days into one and moving some material to later in the semester.
In spite of this, he said the Wellness Days do put him in a “conundrum” in regard to one of his research projects, which has weekly meetings scheduled on Thursdays. Konrad said he will have to work with students to find an alternative time to make up the meeting.
“I am on a very strict deadline with the Department of Energy on the grant,” Konrad said. “So missing one week of research meeting, it’s impactful.”
CAS Senior Lecturer Molly Monet-Viera said faculty in CAS had received emails from higher-ups in the humanities prior to BU announcing its two Wellness Days. She said the emails suggested professors assign less work during what would have been Spring Recess.
“I think I preferred the idea of doing a light week,” Monet-Viera said, “because I feel like these Wellness Days sort of just plunked into the middle.”
Monet-Viera said she had considered giving students in her Spanish classes an optional week in which they could view short films in class or make up individual work. She added she believes the Wellness Days will probably not be restful for students.
“You’re probably just going to use it to catch up on the rest of the week,” Monet-Viera said, “as opposed to actually having a break.”
Monet-Viera said issues surrounding students’ mental health have been ramping up since before the pandemic and are only becoming more acute over time.
“Mental health issues have become so much more prevalent on campus and I hear about it, I see it impacting students,” Monet-Viera said. “It’s important that the University be aware of student wellness.”
