COMM students relaxed as they enter Syllabus Month
“We’re just going to start this class nice and easy,” Intro to Communications professor Mary Marsh said. “Turn to page one of the syllabus and make sure you read it. You’ll be responsible for another page each class.”
Such are the struggles of syllabus month, a comm-only phenomenon wherein the only work is going over the syllabus or doing equivalently difficult work. This period continues until October for all non-upper division credits. For upper division credits, it only lasts until mid-September.
“It’s called Chillabus month around Johnston Hall,” sophomore Lance Ortega said. “You learn that plagiarizing is bad and that you shouldn’t start an email to a professor with “Yo.””
Most people in Johnston can sail through Chillabus month, only encountering difficulty when the 350-word midterm essay comes around. Others, like freshman Ainsley Mastricht, have more of a difficult time. Mastricht says she’s been studying the Intro to Comm syllabus every night before she goes to bed, anticipating the eventual quiz.
“There’s just, like, so many words on these pages,” Mastricht said.
Mastricht’s, roommate, a biomed major named Sara, immediately bludgeoned Ainsley over the head with her 600-page biology book.
Several professors have attempted to fight back against this notoriously lax reputation by assigning open-book, 10-question, multiple choice tests every three weeks. Students are allotted the full 45 minutes for the test.
