New year Structure

timmywex

So aparently there is a proposed new year structure, well slightly for next year. No christmas exams yet but changes to the hillary term. These are only ideas so far as practicalities have to be worked out but what do people think!?

Michealmass remains unchanged.

Variation A)
Starting Hilary term one week earlier (only 3 week christmas hols)
Gap week inserted directly after reading week (would allow trips etc etc)

Variation
As above, but with an extra study week before the exams (making it 3)


The idea is to put schols on in the gap week after the reading week...

mathew

Where did these come from?
Sounds interesting but I would presume it would have to be voted on by the whole board (inc. fellows and scholars) which would probably take more than a summer.......

Openmp

The whole thing is a right old mess. The 2011 Provost campaign is well underway: if you want to get elected, you can be sure that having the abolishment of "semesterization" on your manifesto will do wonders.

timmywex

mathew wrote: »

Where did these come from?
Sounds interesting but I would presume it would have to be voted on by the whole board (inc. fellows and scholars) which would probably take more than a summer.......

Email from ashley cooke to class reps.

Proposed by Vice provest patrick pendergast aftere some undergrad meeting of sorts. SU looking for opinions on it

lost_soul

It's being brought up at the next University Council which is the 19th of May.

BlueCam

The new year structure was brought in on the basis that it would be trialled for three years, which was agreed by all parties - so as much as the SU will moan, nothing will change until 2012 at the earliest.

I also can't see why they'd move Schols yet again - so much planning went into putting them at Christmas, giving them their own new structure, etc., so I just don't see why they'd want to undo all of that.

Sir Ophiuchus

Actually, they're seriously considering changing it this coming year. It's more of a tweak to the system they're testing anyway than the root-and-branch reform that happened this year.

I really like Variation B. Schol was a nightmare this year, coming right between essay submission dates.

shay_562

BlueCam wrote:

I also can't see why they'd move Schols yet again - so much planning went into putting them at Christmas, giving them their own new structure, etc., so I just don't see why they'd want to undo all of that.

They could keep most of the structural changes that allowed them to be held over the New Year (like cutting BESS from 21 hours of exams to 9 hours - bitter though I was, that's still a sensible move) while moving that week or so of exams to a different part of the year that will suit people better. I'd imagine Schols being where they were this year was an absolute bitch, if for no other reason than the snowiest time of year in a country that can't deal with snow = MESS.

Sir Ophiuchus

The library also hated giving the Schol candidates special borrowing privileges over the break. Apparently it was a nightmare, but they had to due to their really awkward closing times over that period.

Steve Higginson

BlueCam wrote: »

The new year structure was brought in on the basis that it would be trialled for three years, which was agreed by all parties - so as much as the SU will moan, nothing will change until 2012 at the earliest.

Spot on! The SU never get anything done, right?

Vice Provost wrote:

It is intended that, if there is support for it, we would introduce this Gap Week in the next academic year.

Oh, would you look at that.

Groinshot

If we get christmas exams though, thatll mean exams in january (or starting year 2 weeks earlier to have them before xmas), exams in may, and schols where?

EDIT:
If its an email to class reps, since when did you become one? :P

PurpleFistMixer

Christmas exams bloody well better not be in January... Losing christmas to schols once was bad enough.

Sir Ophiuchus

Groinshot wrote: »

and schols where?

The Gap Week, which would be the week after the Hilary Term study/reading week.

green909

This is probably a really stupid question when you gap week what is that? Am I wrong in assuming that it will essentially be just another reading week?

Sir Ophiuchus

That's right.

Groinshot

Sir Ophiuchus wrote: »

The Gap Week, which would be the week after the Hilary Term study/reading week.

but if we ahve xmas exams, its kind of unfair, giving us exams, half a semester, exams, half a semester, more exams..... (I originally missed that point though)

Jonathan

Groinshot wrote: »

but if we ahve xmas exams, its kind of unfair, giving us exams, half a semester, exams, half a semester, more exams..... (I originally missed that point though)

Believe me, its not. Try having 10 exams in 3 weeks at the end of the year...

Groinshot

Jonathan wrote: »

Believe me, its not. Try having 10 exams in 3 weeks at the end of the year...

Had 9 in 2

Jeanious

Groinshot wrote: »

but if we ahve xmas exams, its kind of unfair, giving us exams, half a semester, exams, half a semester, more exams..... (I originally missed that point though)

No, it'd be: Semester 1, Exams, Semester 2, Exams...like every other college.

Tbh im only finished first year so i dont know what the previous year structure was like, but having been in DCU before, it was such a relief to have literally half the course completely done and dusted by mid january....i had 9 exams in 2 weeks this year and it was a thunderin nightmare, not least because we didnt touch half the material between December and May.

For the sake of argument, lets say xmas exams added 3 weeks on to the end of the year.....I think the last part of the year would be much more enjoyable, with a couple of weeks of extra spring/summery (read: Pav) weather, half the number of exams to worry about, plus the fact that most of your mates from different colleges finish later than Trinity anyway.

In my opinion the half arsed semesterisation is the problem here (as in, they semesterised the lectures but not the exams) and not the concept of semesterisation itself. Christ im lucky to be 3 years away from it, but i can't imagine doing 8 or 9 finals at the end of the year would be pretty at all, jaysus give us half a chance to do well in them by putting them right after each semester!

Jonathan

coyle wrote: »

No, it'd be: Semester 1, Exams, Semester 2, Exams...like every other college.

No it wouldn't be. Groinshot is correct.

Mark200

Jonathan wrote: »

No it wouldn't be. Groinshot is correct.

Why wouldn't it be?

mathew

Mark200 wrote: »

Why wouldn't it be?

Because to have exams before Christmas, they'd have to bring us back earlier in september, which they dont plan on doing..

Groinshot

On the point of all our friends being done much later? my mate in galway is done, and my friends in WIT are done next week, so thats a week later than me? doesnt seem THAT much later than me...

Jeanious

Groinshot wrote: »

but if we ahve xmas exams, its kind of unfair, giving us exams, half a semester, exams, half a semester, more exams..... (I originally missed that point though)

Jonathan wrote: »

No it wouldn't be. Groinshot is correct.

mathew wrote: »

Because to have exams before Christmas, they'd have to bring us back earlier in september, which they dont plan on doing..

Right, i might be missing somethin here, but could someone explain to me how we'd have 3 sets of exams? And how one would be before we even had lectures?

Jonathan

coyle wrote: »

Right, i might be missing somethin here, but could someone explain to me how we'd have 3 sets of exams? And how one would be before we even had lectures?

Scholar Exams.

PurpleFistMixer

Scholarship exams are already additional exams, that's sort of the point.

Having exams both before and after christmas (for those taking schols, assuming this is how they distributed the normal exams/schol exams) would be pretty unpelasant though. That said, if you're going for schols, you're going to be studying either way...