Every student knows the odd mixture of nervousness and elation that precedes an impending snow day at UCA.
It’s an excitement on par with Christmas or fall and spring breaks.
We sit up watching the UCAPD Twitter or continue obsessively checking the UCA website to see that beautiful note that campus will be closed the next day.
This is understandable for students who are behind on their homework or hoping to put off that test they’re unprepared for.
But, for some students, teachers and faculty, this means a lot of future cramming.
So before you hope and pressure the administration for more snow days, especially when you know conditions are honestly fine, think about those who have to push themselves to the limit to make up these days.
UCA is an accredited university, which is the only way to go if students want their degrees taken seriously or want to be able to apply for jobs that only accept accredited degrees.
However, along with this accreditation comes stricter requirements for some.
Certain degree programs at UCA have higher accreditation requirements than others, such as nursing and chemistry.
When these departments miss class days, that material has to be made up without exception, or the course fails to meet those requirements.
Snow days leave teachers and students all over campus desperately struggling in the wake of inclement weather to make up for lost time.
Teachers have to figure out how to include lecture material or extra lab days to their already rigid schedules.
Nursing students have to pull double shifts to make up for missed clinic hours.
The university is attempting to somewhat alleviate this problem by including these unexceptional requirements in the Academic Map so all students are aware of it. However, there is nothing to be done about inclement weather.
Central Arkansas is completely unprepared to handle winter weather, and every year it’s the same.
Campus is closed even when everyone knows that the roads are fine to drive on.
Perhaps UCA should consider keeping campus open to those students and teachers with strict requirements.
Students would not be penalized for attendance if they couldn’t make it, but at least teachers would have a better opportunity to save their accreditation requirements.
