Administrators debate extending Fall Break

The University is currently considering the possibility of lengthening Fall Break from its current single-day duration.

At a meeting of the Council of Undergraduate Deans last Tuesday, College of Arts and Sciences Dean Rick Beeman said that several topics received a large amount of debate -- including the lengthening of Fall Break and the shortening of New Student Orientation.

"There was a strong inclination to shorten NSO by a single day," wrote Beeman in an e-mail statement. "There was extensive discussion about both the history... of Fall Break and our present policies."

However, what action the University takes -- if any -- has yet to be determined.

"We certainly did discuss the possibility of lengthening [Fall Break], but when and how we would lengthen it was very much undetermined," Beeman said. "I think it was agreed by everyone that we needed to study the matter some more."

But for many students, action can't come soon enough.

Take College senior Dennean Davis, who said she believes her trip to Miami last weekend could have been much more enjoyable had she had more time amidst the palm trees and warm weather.

"We went to Miami this year, and it could have been a whole lot longer," Davis said. "It was kind of short."

Davis said that she considers Penn's current Fall Break a bit scanty.

"I don't consider it a break," she said. "It's more like a three-day weekend."

And College senior Danielle Hannah said that many Penn students -- especially upperclassmen who deliberately schedule classes around Fridays -- already have such a three-day weekend.

"I don't have class on Friday anyway," Hannah said. "They should at least give us Friday and Monday, because if you don't have class on Friday, maybe you have class on Monday, so at least you can get a real day off."

Hannah also feels that NSO, as it stands now, could use some shortening. In fact, as a freshman, Hannah had already been at Penn for a month as part of the Pre-Frosh Program, so she saw NSO as an opportunity to go home.

"For as much time as NSO has, they probably could consolidate it," she says. "They might get higher participation for those few days."

Yet another proponent of the proposed changes is College junior Matt Grady.

"I got the sense during NSO that it was too long and spread out over too many days," Grady said. "I think shortening it to make Fall Break at least a break would be a good thing... [it] would be a nice way to travel or actually do something."

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