Early finals eat away at study time
Chris Fergusson
Intern
In the wake of the final exam schedule revision, students are forced to grapple with issues that have been directly affected by it.
Students will now have less time to study, complete final projects, or prepare for end-of-semester evaluations creating a rift in the student body between students supporting and disapproving the change. Professors also feel the sting of the shortened semester, with less time to cover material in lectures, grade assignments and provide feedback from assignments.
Sheri Broyles, NT advertising professor, expressed her concerns with the change by explaining that her students are required to turn in a portfolio at the end of the semester that will now be due five days earlier.
"I am sitting with my syllabus in my lap trying to figure out how I can fit everything into this new timetable," Broyles said.
Broyles explained her class, like many others, are structured a certain way from August and the new revision has presented each professor and each class with a unique challenge to accommodate everything it's designed for.
"It's a good thing they gave us a heads-up advance notice to provide students a decent amount of time to adjust," said Omar Zamora, McAllen senior.
In Broyles' advertising and the creative process class, she expressed to her students that she had scheduled a professional from a Dallas marketing agency to come to NT and evaluate and provide feedback for the student's final portfolios. With the final exam change, students may not be exposed to this opportunity.
"I booked the visit in August ... now I have to call to change the date, and if he isn't able to make it, it is essential to find someone else," Broyles said. "I've been here for nine years and this has never happened, if we started [school] when we normally do this would have never happened."
The effect of the new schedule uniquely affects students individually, some students welcome the change.
"I don't really care about the change because it doesn't really effect me, I have to take a few exams earlier, but I also get out of school earlier, said Brandon Musselman, Rockwall junior.
Echoing that sentiment Josh Fleming, Katy junior said, "The change doesn't really bother me ... I have to turn in some projects early, but I've been warned and will have plenty of time to make adjustments."
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