Have It Your Way

I wrote about this before, but am going to write about it again. There isn’t, or shouldn’t be, a “third” semester.

se•mes•ter (sə-měs'tər)
–noun

1. (in many educational institutions) a division constituting half of the regular academic year, lasting typically from 15 to 18 weeks.
2. (in German universities) a session, lasting about six months and including periods of recess.

[German, from Latin: sēmē(n)stris, of six months duration, from sex-mēnstris, equivalent to sex, six + mēns(is), month + -tris adjective suffix]

For the uninitiated, the so-called third or short semester is held between April and June during the long intersession break between academic years. While regular semesters last four months, the short semester is only half as long. It used to coincide with the summer break typical of schools in the western hemisphere, before being brought forward a few years ago to bring the university calendar closer in line with other local universities, to begin the new academic year in July rather than September. The short semester is optional for both staff and students, I was told, originally to allow students to repeat select subjects they failed in the previous year before the start of the new academic year. Everybody is free to register for the offered courses. However, as the head of department recently complained, once we offer some courses, students start to demand for more.

Last Thursday, a student came to ask to be excused from class for two weeks because she is attending a 33-day Territorial Army training camp. I might have said yes if we were in a regular semester, but in the seven-week short semester that’s a quarter of the lecture period. So I told her no and advised her to drop the short semester. She became visibly upset and teary, saying that her studies are her priority and that it isn’t her fault that the training camp was postponed at the last minute. The fact remains that the short semester is, after all, optional. Even the kulliyyah will not entertain an application for study leave during the optional short semester.

A more “interesting” encounter happened yesterday. A student shouted profanities in the corridor, obviously meaning that I heard them, after I refused to supervise him for independent study. The university allows graduating students to register for independent study subjects not offered during a semester, provided they can find an instructor who is willing to supervise them. He reeked of cigarette smoke when I opened the door, and claimed ignorant of the requirement to take the subject until it showed up in his graduation audit; a shaky excuse at best. Apparently, he did not handle rejection well.

Neither did whoever wrote “FUCK U” on my colleague’s notice board this morning after she repeatedly refused to accept any more students into her full class.