The Holiday Break

I really look forward to the December holiday break.  Though the University is always prepared and staffed if any emergency arises, all offices (with the exception of admissions and public safety) are closed from just before Christmas to just after New Year’s Day.  Emails decline precipitously during this time but fortunately I have no trouble adjusting to this change in volume.  I use this time period to just relax and recharge and get ready for the January session and the spring semester. Not unlike so many previous December holiday breaks, we were all set to go to Hawaii where my mother-in-law lives and spend time with her and also with my wife’s sister.  We had our airline tickets, we had rented a beautiful house, and even had restaurant reservations set (including at the same Asian restaurant just frequented by President Obama and his family). We were fully packed and certainly well prepared.   I had multiple books and magazines to read. And then the weather forecast became more ominous.

By Saturday night, it was clear this was no ordinary or minor winter storm.  More and more frequently the weather forecasts mentioned blizzard, gale force winds, heavy accumulation, white out conditions and other terms that hardly seem compatible with a trip to Hawaii.  Not to worry, our flight was scheduled for Monday afternoon and we decided to go to Newark airport on Sunday so that we would be all set for the Monday flight without the concern about getting to Newark immediately after a major storm.    We felt the night at a Newark airport motel was good insurance for a much desired trip to Hawaii.  By early Sunday morning, the snow had stopped, some sun had appeared, and the clean up was well underway.  And by late morning we were also underway to the airport.  We were very optimistic and as I had mentioned earlier, we had prepared well.

It took over two hours for us to check our luggage.  So many flights had been canceled, so many individuals needed to make other arrangements, that the check in line moved at a snail’s pace and even that might be an overly optimistic assessment of the speed.  Our plane was still scheduled to go, but the departure time was changed from 1:30 to 3:30 PM.  Certainly understandable.   And then the departure time was changed to 4:30, then to 5:30, then to 6:30, then to 7:30, then 8, then 9, then 10, then 11PM…and then the flight was canceled.  What now?  Well there are no available seats in any airplanes going to Hawaii until either December 31 or January 1^st.  And since we were scheduled to fly back on January 3^rd, departing on the 31^st or the 1^st on an eleven hour flight for a two day stay is not anyone’s idea of a good time.  So we agreed to be ticketed on standby for the flight on Tuesday.  The flight is again scheduled at 1:30 and postponed to 3:45, and at 3:30 the standby names are called.  As it turns out some of us can get on the flight but not the entire family; we therefore decide not to go.  So after spending 13+ hours at the airport on Monday and 5 hours on Tuesday (and two nights at airport motels) we are heading back home.  Our luggage, by the way, was placed on the flight to Hawaii so at least our clothes are experiencing the aloha feeling.

We stop at a diner on the way home, have our first real meal in two days, and arrive home tired by still determined to make the best out of the remainder of the week.  I turn up the heat (which I turned down when we left) and we settle in.  The temperature slowly rises and then stops rising and stops working.  Not only aren’t we in Hawaii, we are in a very cold house in New York.  We go to sleep and wake up in a chilly 58 degree bedroom.  We call our HVAC contractor immediately; he comes that morning and the heat is back on within 30 minutes.  The contractor leaves, the heat stops working shortly thereafter, and it takes until the next morning for the contractor to make a return visit.  The week between Christmas and New Year’s is 80% over and we are just starting to get comfortable again.

After a good vacation in Hawaii, I am always ready and excited about going back to work.  Interestingly enough,  I certainly have that same feeling after this “vacation.”

Tis the Season

It is typical at the end of both the fall and spring semesters that there are extra meetings as every committee and aspect of University governance does all it can to complete the semester’s agenda.  And, of course, the tempo in courses is similar; as hard as we try to maintain an even pace in our courses, very often we accelerate at the end to cover all the material that should be covered.

At the end of fall semesters there is another happening that coincides with the end of the semester and that’s the holiday parties that inevitably take place this time of year.  For me this cycle of parties begins this week with the annual University alumni holiday party that takes place every year in Manhattan.  This party is usually followed by the University Holiday Party for all employees as well as various school, college, office, and related organization’s holiday parties.

There are individuals I work with that love this cycle of holiday parties and there are those that have no use for these events. After decades in higher education and decades of attending these events, where am I on the spectrum of party love/hate relationships.  I started my career as a fan, and yes, after all these decades I am still a fan.  I thoroughly enjoy attending these events.  Why is that?  And why do I not have this feeling of diminishing returns with each additional party?  The reason is simple.  I get a chance to talk to people I don’t normally see or get an opportunity to talk with.  At the alumni party, I am certain that there will be one or more of my former students, students I may have had in class decades ago.  I love having the opportunity to reconnect and get caught up on what they have been doing.  Similarly, I know many of the student leaders that have been active over the decade; with certainty, some of them will attend.  There are other alums that I don’t know who are interested in  getting caught up on what has been happening at the University; we have a lot going on in our efforts to enhance Hofstra’s growing reputation and I love to talk about what’s new.  Even the ride into this party, where the provost’s office and the deans go together is a chance to socialize in a way we don’t normally do.

I have the same feeling about the University Holiday Party.  Though there is a large percentage of the Hofstra community that I interact with continuously, there is also a large percentage that I rarely see.  All these individuals are crucial to the well being and smooth operation of Hofstra.  I love getting caught up at the University Holiday party.  I love reconnecting with colleagues and I love the holiday spirit.

Is there anything about these parties that I don’t like?  There is and it’s the tempting extra calories.  I can resist most and just spend my time sipping club sodas.  But if there is a chocolate dessert as part of the offerings, a club soda doesn’t do it.  In those cases I try the chocolate and if it is good, I try it again.  Good chocolate enhances a good holiday party; it’s a shame it enhances the waist line at the same time.

The Calendar

Most colleges and universities are on the two semester system – a fall and spring semester plus various sessions in January and in the summer.  When these semesters start, end, and have breaks is much less consistent.  And especially when the calendar is tied to religious holidays, you are subject to great variation.

Last spring for example, both Easter and Passover were late.  Consequently schools using the religious holidays as an anchor for scheduling spring break had a break very close to final examinations.   Losing momentum in a class just before final exam doesn’t serve the needs of students or  faculty.  It is in the middle of  the spring semester  (just before the winter weather moderates) that a break may be most  beneficial.

This fall, with the Jewish holidays almost immediately following Labor Day, many institutions had just a few days of classes before there was a significant break.  Taken to an extreme, in the New York City public school system, classes began the Wednesday after Labor Day and then immediately there was a break until the next Monday.  A one day start followed by an immediate two day stop is disconcerting for students, teachers, and parents.  Did education actually take place during that day?

For institutions with a faith based orientation, a calendar reflective of that orientation makes sense.  For the rest of us, given that we are enrolling an ever more diverse student body being taught by an ever more diverse faculty, we should carefully review the calendar.  We need to respect all the faiths and traditions you find on a University campus.  If a student or a faculty member cannot come to class because of a religious holiday, there need to be alternatives.  A person’s faith should not have to be compromised.  However that does not mean that the calendar needs to be constructed  canceling  classes during those holidays.  To the extent possible the calendar should be constructed in support of the education we provide and those breaks that are scheduled in a semester should be scheduled when a break makes the most sense.