Many students returning to campus this week had to change their travel plans and missed the first few classes of the semester, as Tuesday’s winter storm blanketed much of the Northeast, depositing six inches of snow in Providence.
Though the University canceled classes before 10 a.m., some professors also chose to cancel later classes and make adjustments to account for the lost instruction time.
“I missed all my classes I was planning to take on Wednesday. It was kind of weird to come in a little bit late,” said Jordana Rosenfeld ’17, whose Tuesday morning flight from Pittsburgh was canceled Monday evening and rescheduled to Wednesday.
Rosenfeld said she emailed her professors to inform them of her situation and “they were really understanding.” Missing one day of classes did not contribute too much stress to shopping period, she added.
Mirena Christoff, senior lecturer in Arabic and the Arabic program coordinator, said she decided to cancel her Wednesday classes because of the weather and reschedule some of them for today.
Christoff said she chose to cancel her classes out of concern for her students’ safety walking on snowy paths, as well as her own difficulty commuting to campus. She said she once fell and broke her arm when walking from a classroom to her office in snowy conditions.
Because she teaches mostly small language classes, Christoff said it should be relatively easy to accommodate her students’ schedules to make up for missed time today. “I don’t think students lost too much,” she said, noting that the first day of class is usually devoted to administrative tasks, not teaching new topics.
The University’s decision to cancel classes held before 10 a.m. was a “helpful measure,” she added.
Though the road conditions in Providence and the Northeast have greatly improved since the storm hit, some students are still in the process of returning to campus.
After his Tuesday connecting flight from Newark, N.J., to Providence was canceled, Edward Zhao ’16 said he had to rebook a flight that arrives today.
“I think overall it was pretty unfortunate for me,” he said, noting that some of his friends left late Monday night and made it back to school without incident. But he said he was not too worried about arriving late back to campus, since he will still be able to attend classes today.
“I don’t really shop that much,” Zhao said, adding that he thinks the first week of semester classes are not usually that important. “If I were to miss the third or fourth class, that would be a big deal.”
Maddie Medina ’16 was unable to return to campus from Texas when her connecting flight from Baltimore to Providence was canceled Tuesday. She got the last seat on the next available flight Thursday.
“I’m just glad I was able to get a seat,” she said.
Medina said she thought the University should have canceled classes for the entirety of Wednesday — not just those occurring before 10 a.m. — out of courtesy to students unable to return to campus.
“Some teachers have been pretty good about it,” she said, noting that her professor for CHEM 0350: “Organic Chemistry” encouraged her to get notes from other students.
“I will definitely shop less,” she added, explaining that the first two days of class are ideal for shopping a class, but afterward it becomes more difficult as professors begin to assign homework and readings.
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