Southern Adventist University’s Student Association (SA) is pushing for the university to implement “Prep Week” in an effort to relieve students’ stress before final exams. SA members proposed the idea to faculty at the Oct. 2 Faculty Senate meeting, according to Kilah Runnels, senior social work and international studies-Spanish major and SA senator.
According to Jared Chandler, senior finance major and SA president, the idea for Prep Week came from the “Dead Week” that some other universities have.
“We’re calling it ‘Prep Week’ to get rid of any negative connotation that the ‘Dead Week’ name brings with it,” Chandler said. “Our version of a Prep Week that we proposed was the week right before finals where there would be no tests, projects or essays due for students.”
Runnels, the senator who worked with Chandler on the Prep Week proposal, said she was passionate about the idea because of its possible mental health benefits.
“As a social work major, I realize the importance of self-care,” Runnels said. “And I know that word is kind of a buzzword right now, but the idea of academic burnout and academic resilience is so important. And we don’t talk about it a lot, [but] in my department we do. If I can advocate for those skills to be incorporated in other departments, I [am] absolutely for it.”
Chandler said he first had the idea for Prep Week at Southern when talking to a friend who had a unit test the Friday before finals week and their final exam on Monday of finals week.
“This caused a lot of stress, and this was this person’s first semester at the university. They were a freshman,” Chandler said. “So what we wanted to do with this Prep Week is we wanted to make sure stuff like that didn’t happen.”
Prep Week would give students more time to prepare for final exams and reduce their stress, according to Chandler.
Runnels said the increased study time could help students retain more information from their studies.
“When we give students the ability to have that time before finals week to actually apply the material or really think about the material, … I think this will help them in the long term,” Runnels said.
According to Chandler, some professors at Southern already have a class schedule with something similar to what SA is proposing, but others would have to adjust their schedule if Prep Week is implemented.
When asked if he thinks students will disengage from classes during the week before finals if Prep Week is instituted, Chandler said it is not meant to be a break, just a normal week of classes.
“There [are] other universities that don’t have classes at all. That’s not what we’re doing here,” Chandler said. “It’s gonna be a regular week of school. … Students will do whatever they want, but we’re not trying to make this a week where students can go off to Florida. … We’re just trying to reduce the stress for the students.”
Runnels said she thinks students will be able to stay engaged with classes during Prep Week because professors will still be teaching, and small assignments could be due.
“This is not taking away [the] responsibility or integrity of the students,” Runnels said. “And I think that’s a really big thing to understand … because you still have to study; you still have to go to class.”
