UNC will ask faculty to pause instruction on Friday, Oct. 9, giving students a day off before the end of the semester, campus leaders said in an email.
Oct. 9 falls on the midpoint of the fall semester. Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz, Provost Bob Blouin and more campus leaders will ask for this class pause in observance of World Mental Health Day on Oct. 10.
"This pause might include, but is not limited to: changing a live lecture to a recorded one to be watched at a later date, postponing the due date of a paper or rescheduling a quiz. We believe that faculty flexibility and compassion on this day, and throughout the semester, will support and facilitate better student mental health," they said in the email.
Faculty can adjust individual class sessions and move assignments but must make alternate arrangements to meet learning objectives of the class.
This announcement comes after many students called for a day off before the end of the semester. After the University made the decision not to cancel classes in observance of University Day on Oct. 12, students and faculty expressed stress about being left without breaks for the rest of the semester.
Several students started a petition calling for a mental health break, receiving over 3,000 signatures. The petition called for just "One day for us all to close our computers," citing the lack of breaks in the condensed semester.
The Commission on Campus Equality and Student Equity also wrote a letter to UNC-System President Peter Hans, Guskiewicz and other UNC-System leaders for a pause in classes on Election Day to increase voter turnout.
