An insider look at the Mount Allison Students’ Union reading week survey
With reading week at Mt. A being pushed earlier in the fall semester to the week of Oct. 13-17, the MASU is running a survey to collect students’ opinions on whether or not they like this change and how it influences their academic performance, mental health, and overall preference in relation to their reading week habits. The Argosy sat down with MASU President Wilson Paluch to discuss the survey and ongoing discussions about the timeline of fall term reading week.
When asked about the background as to why the MASU originally changed the dates of reading week, Paluch acknowledged he did not know the full story from last year, as the MASU’s executive team was composed of a different cohort of students in 2024-25. “From what I understand,” said Paluch, “the MASU executives brought [the reading week timeline] to council, and it was the responsibility of the senators — the two arts, two science, two social science, and Indigenous student senators — to survey their own student demographics.” Paluch explained the reading week timeline “was talked about at council very intensely, and that’s how they came to that decision.” When asked about how the current MASU executive created this ongoing survey, Paluch said “since day one in the office, [the MASU team] had heard students come to us and ask why the reading week changed. We saw a demand for data collection around the change, and that’s where [the survey] came from.” Paluch stated the actual survey creation itself was the result of a joint project between himself and the MASU Vice President of Academic Affairs, Kassandra Vail.
As of Nov. 17, the online survey has a total of 312 student responses, just shy of the MASU’s goal of 350. Although not quite at their goal, Paluch said, “[this] is quite good for a student survey […] it’s higher than we normally have.” The survey saw respondents from diverse groups on campus. Groups that stood out were student athletes, first-generation students, and international students.” The MASU’s next steps in collecting responses will be focusing on these groups at the administrative level. “Those will be offices we reach out to. Even getting 25–50 per cent of student athletes or 25 per cent of international students would improve our numbers, and we’d feel more comfortable with the total student picture,” said Paluch.
Despite originally expecting a definitive result, Paluch found “a big pattern was that students who preferred the October reading week said November was too late and they were already burnt out. Students who preferred November said October was too early and they didn’t need a break at that time.” Paluch elaborated the survey is still ongoing, and results could change, but that there is a slight preference towards reverting to the Nov. timeline of past years’.
In terms of survey implementation for the next academic year, scheduling difficulties arise around holidays.. In order to adhere to credit hour requirements without going late into December, Maritime universities tend to schedule reading week during Truth and Reconciliation Day, Thanksgiving, or Remembrance Day. Despite this commonality, Paluch explained that based on the survey data so far, “students may need a break at different times. It’s becoming apparent that it might be time to consider something not tied to a federal holiday, but this is not a guarantee. We’re still gathering data and not thinking about action until the survey is closed.”
In addition to the online survey, Paluch attended a number of scheduled focus groups to ask students face-to-face about their opinions. “We heard more personal stories than we would in written surveys. It was valuable and a good win for the MASU.” Paluch said he enjoyed the opportunity to hear directly from students living on campus when tabling in Jennings and heard unique stories like being from non-Maritime provinces, proximity to the U.S. Thanksgiving in late November, and alignment with neighbouring universities’ reading weeks at Acadia and Dalhousie.
When asked about next steps and formal dissemination of the survey results, Paluch said, “as of right now, there is a slight preference for the November reading week. That does not [necessarily] mean we’re taking action to revert the change. We still want to talk to more groups before disclosing specifics, but we will publish results when finished.”
Paluch concluded by restating the MASU’s goal to represent the student body and make the opinions of the student body heard. “It really helps us if students fill out the survey because it allows them to have a voice in what we do. We do our best to represent all students at Mt.A, but without feedback, it’s difficult. The survey is optional, and we’re not forcing anyone, even the groups we’re contacting — we just want them to have another chance to be represented.” Paluch noted that “the MASU stands neutral on the topic of having reading week in October versus November.”