Spring semester extended due to inclement weather

GSCO campus laden with snow and ice during the canceled week of Jan.9

Due to the cancellation of classes for the week of Jan. 9, a two-day extension has been incorporated into the 2011 spring semester at Gainesville State College Oconee and Oakwood campuses.
While students were beyond excited for a week of snow, the administrators of GSC were hard at work trying to figure out how to handle this pending problem.
The solution was quickly established: the new full session semester will now end on Friday, April 29 instead of on Wednesday, April 27. The Thursday and Friday exams will move to a week later, while graduation will be pushed back by two days.
To reach this conclusion, many different options and suggestions were solicited from faculty and staff, SDM student development, and the two Student Government Association presidents of the Oakwood and Oconee campuses, all of which were taken into heavy consideration. “Some of those suggestions were Saturday classes and Friday afternoon classes… we looked at using Spring break,” said Kristen Roney, Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs.
The administration also sought information from what the other colleges were doing, “there were just a scatter shot of options,” said Roney. “Some of which boiled down to ‘whatever you want’.”
The decision to extend the semester arrived through various reasons. It was realized that many students who attend GSCO work on the weekends. Other concerns for the weekend included child care for the population of parents attending GSCO. “It seemed to be an undue burden that we didn’t think we’d get that many students able to show up, never mind willing to show up, but able to,” said Roney.
The week of final exams was taken into consideration for makeup also, but was soon dismissed. “Learning support compass exit testing has to be done that week and we can’t expect those students to be simultaneously in class and having to take compass exams,” said Roney.
“The final exam period really wasn’t going to garner us the instructional time we wanted… it would’ve made the final exams non-traditional most likely and most faculty and students aren’t prepared for that,” said Roney. “Everyone going to an online final doesn’t seem like a very choice option.”
Any class hours that may remain missing will be made up through alternative assignments, some through eLearning, while other classes may be extended by five minutes. The decision is up to the individual professors.
Should more inclement weather occur, it should be noted that spring break will be substituted for the make-up days. “There’s nothing else we can do,” said Roney.
All in all it shall prove to be a fully packed semester. “I think it’ll look different and sound different, but in the end I think the same learning outcomes will take place,” said Roney. “Of what we were presented with and what we had come up with I think we came up with the most reasonable option.”