ASUNM hasn't made much noise for a prep week so far this year.
"Sometimes those things are kind of seasonal depending on who is pushing it," said Ed Desantis, president of Faculty Senate.
The item was not approved last year in Faculty Senate. Former ASUNM President Jennifer Onuska was a strong advocate for the issue and said it would inevitably help students do better on finals.
But some faculty members contended the week would be an encroachment of professors' academic freedom.
"For some reason, people felt this wasn't the time to deal with it," Desantis said. "I don't think there was a lot of enthusiasm about it from the faculty."
Prep weeks, or closed weeks, are designed to allow students more time to review finals. During the 15th week of a semester, no new tests, material or assignments are given to students.
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An April 16, 2003, ASUNM poll showed 1,414 undergraduate students supported a prep week, and 82 were against it.
Justin Crosby, ASUNM vice president, said the momentum of instituting a prep week has died.
"That was not one of the goals the (ASUNM) Senate wanted to focus on this semester," he said. "But I still have personal aspirations to keep that going next semester."
Crosby ran on the Ignition slate, which listed a prep week as part of its platform in the spring 2004 ASUNM election.
To gain more faculty support, he said it's important to let faculty members know about the issue before it is brought before the Faculty Senate to vote on.
This week all of his term papers are due, Crosby said, including take-home finals. He said gaining more information on how the week before finals affects students could be used to convince faculty it is a good idea to have a prep week.
If the Faculty Senate were to support a prep week, the Board of Regents would have the next vote.
Regent Jack Fortner said UNM should have a prep week so students can be given a period to review and regroup.
"If it came before the regents in that type of idea, that framework, I would definitely support it," he said.
The downside, though, would be that the 15th week of a semester is usually the time when professors wrap up everything they think is essential, Fortner said.
It's hard to tell, because everybody distributes course content in different ways, Desantis said.
"It's just impossible to come to agreement among people - and not just faculty themselves, but between faculty and students," he said.
Crosby said even if the spring senators do not make prep week a priority, he will find a way to organize a committee to try to institute a prep week next semester.
"For the time being, things are probably better the way they are now," Desantis said.
