"Holiday Creep"

[Mark Stellmack]

There is a phenomenon that seems to be becoming more prevalent each year.  I'll call it "Holiday Creep."  You may have something else (or someone in particular) in mind when you hear that term, but what I'm referring to is when students add a couple of days before holidays to make them just a little longer, leading to excuses and requests for make-up work:

"The Thanksgiving Break goes from Thursday to Sunday, but I'm leaving for home on Wednesday."

"I'm leaving town the Thursday before Spring Break, so I can't take the quiz on Friday."

"I bought a plane ticket to go home three days before your final.  Can I take the final early?"

I don't have any particular solution to offer; I'm merely noting that this is something we have to deal with.  However, it seems necessary to resist the trend as much as possible.  If I work Holiday Creep into my schedule so that nothing important happens on the class day immediately before a holiday, students will just extend the holiday even earlier.  Instead of a four-day Thanksgiving Weekend, it will be a nine-day Thanksgiving Week.  Spring Break is already effectively 10 or 11 days long.  And it seems that fewer instructors actually give finals during Finals Week, making me the bad guy when I schedule a final exam on the date designated by the U.  Then when students have to stick around for my final when they would rather be leaving for winter break, they call ME the "Holiday Creep".