Is Syllabus Week Dead?
Filled with excitement and anticipation to begin my last semester at Chapman University, I woke up last Monday morning without a clue where any of my classes for that day would be. As a senior, the level of preparedness for entering a new semester has dwindled, to say the least. However, I have learned through my years that syllabus week is potentially the only time over the next four months that I do not have to worry too much about coursework or preparation. It was two and a half hours into my second three-hour lecture, after my first took its full allotted time slot, realizing I would be ending my last first day of college with a mountain of assignments, when it hit me: Is the concept of a syllabus week dead?
The traditional “syllabus week” is that lovely first week of class where professors introduce the course, go over expectations, and allow students to settle into their semester schedule at least this was my understanding. The quintessential first class of the semester has to be a brief intro speech, syllabus review (show me those course objectives!), discuss upcoming assignments, and class over. However, this was not the experience for myself and many other Chapman students this past week.
Most students seem to have had a confusing mix of basic introductory classes and ones that just jump right in. Now, it’s nothing against professors who begin instruction on day one. The semesters feel jam-packed for us too and one extra hour or two of lecture in the first class could be vital to fit it all. But does this urgency create a harsh rude -awakening for students?
Overall, my syllabus week classes went fine, my professors are nice, and I’m excited for my final courses. But when I spent two hours in the library on TUESDAY (a.k.a. day two of classes), I was feeling a tad overwhelmed. It wasn’t just assignments for classes, it was attempting to visualize my schedule/work for the next four months and sort through a sea of welcome back emails.
Let’s see what some students have to say about their syllabus week:
“Syllabus week went exactly how I was expecting. The first class was just intros and syllabus, then class two was lectures and learning. I had assignments for about half of my classes after day one… After a semester abroad, it has been a lot all at once to jump back in but I actually liked getting right into it.”
“As a Dodge student, I am used to only having three- hour lectures where the instruction starts right off the bat… My internship and out-of-class commitments pick up next week so, for me, this was still a good transition back to school. I’m just trying to stay ahead because I know this is the only week that I will have this much free time.”
“I knew, going into my third year, that we’d be starting to teach on day one. I do remember freshman year when I was trying to balance all the welcome activities and new friends, and then assignments were already stacking up. I was not prepared for that at all but you live and you learn.”
First week either gently eased you into your routine or hit you with a slap-in-the-face reality check. Whichever it was for you, I hope you took that three-day weekend to reset and prepare because the semester has officially begun and there’s no going back.