In the Silhouette’s Oct. 18 issue, a news story and an editorial doubted that a fall break for 2013 would be possible.

The MSU had not yet launched its survey for gathering input on the break, and time was running out for the idea to pass through the University’s multi-tiered approval process. We argued that students union president Siobhan Stewart needed to forget surveys and quickly push forward if she hoped to get the job done. And even then, it was a long shot.

This week, we were proved wrong.

The MSU launched a survey, got a significant amount of feedback and took the information to University administrators. Undergraduate Council allowed the setting of next year’s academic calendar to be pushed to early 2013.

On Wednesday, Senate voted. There will be no classes on Thursday, Oct. 31 and Friday, Nov. 1, and there will be no tests on Saturday, Nov. 2. And the break will run again in 2014. With the exam period in December shifted forward two days and shrunk by one, no faculties will drop below their required number of teaching days.

It’s not a week. But it’s a break, just as was promised, and it was born out of a lot hard work. It’s a start, and it will help people.

Nice work, Siobhan. And to everyone else, have a happy Halloween.

Undergraduate students will be getting a three-day break next year from Oct. 31 to Nov. 2. The fall break will run from a Thursday to a Saturday, allowing two weekdays off and a test ban on Saturday, Nov. 2.

The University Senate unanimously passed the motion for a break Wednesday afternoon.

Due to restrictions on the number of instructional days for certain faculties, the number of class days (62) will remain the same. The exam period has been pushed forward two days and shortened by one day, and will run Dec. 6 to 20.

MSU president Siobhan Stewart was tearful as she addressed the room before the vote. A fall break was part of her platform when she ran for president early in 2012.

“It has been my dream for over a year to have this passed,” said Stewart.

“Several times when I’ve talked to students, [I’ve found] they think things can’t change at the University, but this is an opportunity to show that it can.”

The pilot will run two academic years in a row beginning in 2013. After the trial, the University will decide whether or not to make the break permanent.

By implementing a break in the fall term, McMaster follows practices of other universities in Ontario, including U of T and Queen’s. Other universities, like Ryerson, Trent and the University of Ottawa, have fall reading weeks.

The University of Windsor had a trial reading week in 2009 and decided not to reinstate it the following year.

Two new Honours B.A. programs are nearing fruition, as the University Senate approved the establishment of the Justice, Political Philosophy and Law (JPPL) and Professional Communication (BPC) majors in a meeting last month.

The new majors have already been passed through both the Undergraduate Council and the University Planning Committee in April and May, respectively.

Peter Smith, McMaster’s Associate Vice-President (Academic), is optimistic on the trajectory of this proposal, as it undergoes additional scrutiny in the near future.

“We still have to get an external review of the proposal, so two outside committees will assess it, and then it will go to the Ontario Universities Council on Quality Assurance for final review,” said Smith.

The programs’ aims are to “foster a sophisticated understanding of the law and legal institutions,” in the case of JPPL, and to “develop leaders in the practice of professional communication” in the latter.

The BPC major will be delivered as a joint initiative with Mohawk College, granting graduating students with additional certification in the form of a Mohawk Diploma in Digital Communication.

“It’s a long process. The hope is that these approvals will be in place and the programs will be ready for September 2013,” said Smith.

The BPC program is expected to admit only 50 students annually, and JPPL will accept no more than 60 in it’s inaugural academic year. These limits will rise in subsequent program years.