Covid-19 has changed many aspects of college life for students, families, and staff. From moving classes online, to learning how to use Zoom, the school year could not be more different from the previous years.
The latest change? Wellness days. Provost Robel announced on December 4th, 2020 that IU campuses would be replacing the traditional “spring break” with three days off spread evenly across the three remaining months of the spring semester. These wellness days came about due to the backlash of students not receiving a fall break the previous semester.
Wellness days were designed by IU to give students a break from classes while discouraging them from leaving campus to reduce the spread of Covid-19. This decision resulted in single, midweek days off with no in person or online classes held for undergraduate or graduate students. Maurer School of Law will not honor the wellness days and will continue to hold classes.
After the first wellness day on February 16th, 2020, some students soon realized the mid-week days off were not as restful as they had hoped.
Students Alexa Szatowski, Olivia Begeman, Thomas Wilhoite, Ryan Strantz, and Ella Baker share their opinions on IU’s wellness days.
“I don’t like the new wellness days. Especially when they are in the middle of the week, because I feel like we can’t actually have a reset from everything that’s been piling up on us” says IU senior Alexa Szatowski. Szatowski said she spent her first wellness day catching up on assignments from the week, and did not truly get to rest.
Szatowski was not alone in using her day off for work. IU junior Olivia Begeman said a professor scheduled an exam the day following the wellness day; she needed to use that day to study. “ I had an exam due the next day, so I spent the whole entire day preparing for that anyway, and didn’t really get to relax at all.”
“One day isn’t necessarily the most restful compared to a full week of spring break” Said IU junior Ryan Strantz. “I found it hard to find any kind of rest, or I guess wellness derived from those.”
Students Alexa Szatowski, Olivia Begeman, Thomas Wilhoite, Ryan Strantz, and Ella Baker give their suggestions on how IU wellness days could be improved.
Some students hoped the wellness days would line up with a weekend, giving a longer break than just a single day. “My biggest frustration with them is their timing” Strantz said, “Just because it’s like, on a Tuesday.” Faculty members have also expressed concern for the mid week days off, saying the wellness days interfere with class scheduling since IU runs on a block scheduling system. If 13 or 8 week classes are interrupted by a wellness day, classes can be rescheduled or professors can opt to add 5 minutes to each remaining class period.
Not all students immediately rushed to criticize the wellness day decision. IU freshman Thomas Wilhoite believes IU made the best decision despite the tough circumstances. “I think IU is doing the best they can…They dont want people to leave campus, and if they put it on a Friday or Thursday or a Monday then people are going to leave. So I understand the logic behind having them on a Wednesday.”
IU’s next wellness days for the 2021 spring semester are Wednesday, March 24th, and Thursday, April 22nd. No word has come from IU officials as to the University’s plan for fall and spring break for the upcoming 21/22 school year.
