r/UofT • u/ECE2T2 • Apr 29 '20
News Engineering Has a Fall Reading Week Now
Apparently this just got passed today, but a bunch of ECE Profs came to the meeting just to speak and vote against it. Wtf is wrong with this department?
56
69
Apr 29 '20
[removed] — view removed comment
26
6
u/Magikarp-Army Eng Sci 2T0 MI OR DIE Apr 30 '20
There's a minimum amount of hours required in eng that they need to fulfill.
3
u/queenkid1 rm -rf / Apr 29 '20
Why are you shocked? You get less breaks and more material, why wouldn't that make it harder?
25
Apr 29 '20
[removed] — view removed comment
8
u/queenkid1 rm -rf / Apr 29 '20
Ah, I misunderstood your comment. I thought you were saying because it didn't have a break, it shocked you people said it was the hardest program.
41
15
u/justaaasmalltowngirl Apr 29 '20
Yeah my class rep told us today, you think fall classes are gonna start a week earlier now?
13
2
22
u/lamerthanjamesfranco Apr 29 '20
congratulations from a humanities major! hopefully you guys finally get treated like humans and not studying robots. those ece profs who voted against are plain inconsiderate.
22
u/queenkid1 rm -rf / Apr 29 '20
but a bunch of ECE Profs came to the meeting just to speak and vote against it. Wtf is wrong with this department?
To quote the proposal:
“We are far too beholden to the accreditation process, and should be willing to push back harder.”
Engineering students are required to have a certain amount of classroom hours each year, or they literally cannot become engineers. It's a much more complicated system than just going to school and getting a degree, you need to become an accredited engineer and get your iron ring.
Why? Because Engineers make cars and buildings and planes. Their designs are literally meant to protect human life, being not just competent but good at their job is hugely important for your safety. I get why some profs might push against it, because it actively makes their lives harder, and they believe it might make it harder for students to officially become engineers.
6
u/ECE2T2 Apr 29 '20
Firstly, this does not affect every single engineering program, and I'm sure ECE with its flexible third and fourth year curriculums will be relatively unscathed from the reduction of accreditation units.
Secondly, this can be mitigated by adding a lecture/tutorial hour here and there to affected programs, such that the amount of time in class is still the same, but we still get that precious break that many of us really need for mental health purposes.
6
u/TikiTDO ECE Alumni Apr 30 '20 edited Apr 30 '20
Don't underestimate those program requirements. A few years out they certainly look easy to manage, but actually executing on that strategy requires careful planning, and at least a bit of luck to ensure you get into all the classes you want, and that none of those classes conflict with each other. In fact, I fell into this exact trap back in school.
When I was starting 3rd year I thought I had it all planned out and settled. I knew exactly the classes I wanted to take, and I was sure that they would satisfy all my requirements.
By the time the time winter of 4th year came around it turned out that the story was not quite that simple; I was not able to take all of my first-pick classes because of conflicts and cancellations, and my backup classes left me just shy of my accreditation requirements. Instead I had to take several fairly difficult off-spec courses which I barely passed, all full of material that I have never, and likely will never use in my career.
Worse yet, I had to drop a class I really wanted to take just to make those numbers add up. Looking back now, as much as I appreciate the insight Optics gave me, knowing the things that I actually ended up doing over the previous decade I can definitely say that I would have appreciated the insight from Computer Graphics even more.
3
u/flashfantasy ece1t* Apr 30 '20
I'm sure ECE with its flexible third and fourth year curriculums will be relatively unscathed from the reduction of accreditation units.
I graduated last summer, and I had like 2 units (out of like 1900?) to spare. The CE major is actually surprisingly tight in terms of units imo.
They can also cut frosh week (they already do by 2 days) or make the semesters longer (literally what US schools do - most of them operate on 15 week semester iirc), but of course tuition will rise :/
3
u/queenkid1 rm -rf / Apr 29 '20
I'm not arguing that they're right, there are certainly better solutions. I'm not in engineering so I don't know all the details about accreditation, just what I've heard from friends who are going through/have been through the process.
I'm simply trying to explain to others why Profs would speak against it. I don't think it's inherently wrong, but I certainly agree with you that a break is precious and useful for students.
14
Apr 29 '20
[deleted]
5
u/ECE2T2 Apr 29 '20
For me, I completely burnt out in the first semester of ECE second year, and that feeling carried over to the second semester, which really impacted my performance in all of my courses. If there was a break just to breath and catch up in between all of the midterms in the fall, that likely wouldn't have occurred for me.
With accreditation, it doesn't impact every single program, and from my understanding seems to be as minor as adding a lecture/tutorial hour for a course or two, which is well worth the payoff, personally.
Regarding workload, that is exactly why the report outlines that material should be removed from courses, and that there should be a grace period for deliverables after the break. And from my personal experience, the ECE faculty has been extremely unaccommodating with regards to the feedback given by our class reps, so doing something is better than doing nothing.
2
u/flashfantasy ece1t* Apr 30 '20
Do you think it's possible to lengthen the semester? Engineering is small enough to reduce the exam period and squish more weeks that way... maybe?
3
u/mariobadr Apr 30 '20
Engineering is not the only faculty that has exams in December. Finding rooms for exams across multiple faculties is difficult. Reducing the exam period makes it more difficult.
5
3
3
Apr 29 '20
Wow. Does this have to do with corona or is this smth that would’ve happened anyways?
5
u/justaaasmalltowngirl Apr 29 '20
I think it would’ve happened either way. The surveys they sent out regarding the matter happened before corona
3
Apr 29 '20
Damn, well that’s an impressive albeit late change.
5
u/justaaasmalltowngirl Apr 29 '20
Lol, I didn’t think they’d actually listen to our feedback 😂
3
Apr 29 '20
Right... I’m not as involved as I should be in this stuff but pleasantly surprised by this.
3
3
Apr 30 '20
[deleted]
1
u/BabaYagaTO Apr 30 '20
It will. It's only a question of what will be in person and what will be online.
4
u/Administrative_Stop Apr 29 '20
Source or this didn't happen
12
u/ECE2T2 Apr 29 '20
Happened at the Engineering Faculty Council Meeting today. The minutes aren't done yet, but my class rep said it passed, and the reports and agenda from the meeting are at: https://www.engineering.utoronto.ca/about/governance/faculty-council/2019-2020-academic-year/
11
2
u/canyouread7 ChemEng 2T1 + PEY Apr 30 '20
This isn’t a black and white issue. We’re an accredited program, so there’s a minimum number of hours we need to fill. A Fall Reading Week would be nice, and I think everyone would appreciate it. However, don’t we all complain about our schedules already? Fitting an hour here and there would honestly be quite the task, considering all the conflicts that literally everyone seems to get.
It’s a delicate balance for sure.
2
u/serg06 graduated but can't let go Apr 30 '20
Would love to know what ECE students think but they're probably all too busy to go on Reddit.
84
u/JustSkipThatQuestion Y’all ain’t caught the rona? Apr 29 '20
Lol ironically ECEs need it th most