With the winter break approaching, the Ombuds Services took to social media to remind students how to respond if their instructor assigns coursework over the upcoming winter break.
Provost and vice-president (academic) Jerry Tomberlin said in a message to Carleton instructors and department administrators that they should not expect coursework to be submitted during the fall and winter breaks and classes should not be scheduled.
The Ombuds Services posted advice on its social media for students facing this issue.
The advice says students should “respectfully inform [their] instructor of the Provost’s announcement and allow them time to review and respond” and to contact the Ombuds Services if the instructor does not respond or resolve the situation.
“I noticed the majority of these complaints would come in very last-minute, making them difficult to resolve quickly, so I’ve tried to take a proactive approach to informing students by posting on social media ahead of fall/winter breaks,” said university ombudsperson Melanie Chapman in an email to the Charlatan.
Valentina Vera Gonzalez, CUSA’s vice-president (student issues), said she would like the provost and deans to email their professors about this issue rather than students flagging concerns to professors and Ombuds Services.
“This time is for [students] to actually relax and take a break from school,” said Vera Gonzalez.
This year’s winter break officially begins on Feb. 22, the same day that Katie Gomes is supposed to submit an annotated bibliography to her professor. The fourth-year criminology student said the issue was discussed in class, so she assumes someone will address the assignment deadline with their professor.
Gomes said she did not know contacting the Ombuds Services was an option for her.
“When I actually have something to do during [the week] and I have to spend time focusing on an assignment, it just takes away from the whole point of the break,” Gomes said. “I can no longer use that time to catch up or get ahead.”
Ashley Boyes, third-year law student, said she did not know the rule existed before seeing the post on Instagram.
“I think a lot of other students didn’t know that either,” Boyes said.
Featured image by Arno Ryser.
