Students from SGA have proposed to the Academic Policy Committee extending Reading Day from one to two days, a change that would greatly benefit students for a multitude of reasons.

Two options were proposed to the APC. The first is to eliminate the last day of exams and use it to place another Reading Day in the middle of exam week, meanwhile shortening exam times from two and a half hours to two hours.

The second option is to borrow one grading day from professors and make it another Reading Day to be placed in the middle of exam week.

Either of these options would eliminate a host of problems students dread at the end of every semester.

Professors often assume that the last few weeks of classes are sufficient enough time to prepare for the final, but teachers often use those weeks to assign final papers and complete planned material, leaving students frazzled with those last few assignments (which often contribute significantly to one’s final grade) and with little time to get a leg up on final exam material.

Another Reading Day would alleviate the stress of studying for the final while you are still finishing the class assignments.

Students’ performances on finals would likely increase if these extra days were included in the academic calendar. More study time generally corresponds to higher grades.

If a student should have multiple exams on Saturday, she really only has Friday to prepare for two to three tests that could potentially determine her final grade for two or three classes.

Cramming for three exams in one day, a trap that many students fall into, is not effective nor is it healthy.

Placing the extra Reading Day in the middle of exam week is a much better idea than placing the days consecutively because it will give students a breather in the middle of the most stressful week of the semester.

Universities said to be comparable to Villanova, including Georgetown, Notre Dame and Boston College all have two to three Reading Days this year on their academic calendars.

If we want to remain competitive with other universities, why not extend the Reading Day period like those that all have longer study periods?

Most Ivy League schools boast entire Reading Weeks to prepare their students for exams.

Even though we do this proverbial Reading Day song and dance every year, the APC should seriously consider the idea of extending Reading Day for the academic and physical wellbeing of the students.