Given the concerns raised by the op-ed and the letter to the editor in last week’s edition of The Spectator, I thought I would extend an apology to several entities on campus who I may have regrettably misled or misinformed during the scheduling-revision process.

First of all, I would like to extend an apology to Maren Clegg-Hyer who is absolutely correct in asserting that I am not and never have been a member of the Academic Scheduling and Procedures Committee. I have, however, been working hand-in-hand with that committee over the past year in attempting to reach a resolution on extending finals week for our student body.

I even worked on a subcommittee of the ASPC in developing a workable calendar that was then set aside by the larger committee. Had she been currently serving on the committee, Dr. Clegg-Hyer would have known that.

Second, I would like to apologize to The Spectator, the student body and all other interested parties for not mentioning anything about the costs associated with an extended schedule. We were working under the auspices of a statement made at the September meeting of the ASPC that led that committee to believe that there would be no additional housing or tuition costs.

In fact, we were told that the only more-than-negligible marginal cost would probably be an additional day of food costs per semester, amounting to about $32, which the SGA was informed of before making their decision.

Third, I would like to apologize to all the other individuals in the faculty senate, SGA, COSA, the ASPC and various academic and administrative departments around campus who have worked on this schedule.

Whether through my own actions or the actions of others, I appear to be the only one who has been singled out as a champion of extending finals week, a fact that is truly unfair to all the people who have worked diligently on giving our students a schedule more amenable to their success.

Fourth, I do apologize to any faculty senator who ever once thought that I or any of my fellow senators was attempting to pressure them into voting for a schedule that they did not like or feel would benefit their concerns.

Having been subjected to such pressures in the very recent past, pressuring anyone has never been and never would be my intention. I imagine that my students who feel pressured by one department or another to take exams in a three-day period also feel the same way.

Fifth, I apologize for not making one thing explicit to everyone involved. This is not about breaks or extra days or starting early or anything else other than extending finals week.

This is about giving our students more time to take their finals which should promote more individual success and, in turn, enhance retention and graduation rates.

Aubrey R. Fowler III