At Alverno College, class will be cancelled on Nov. 4 to promote civic responsibility amid its student body.

In a statement regarding the college’s decision, Alverno College President Mary Meehan, said making Election Day an official college holiday was a top priority when she arrived at the school four years ago.

“When I began my role at Alverno…I thought that if we were truly to afford students, faculty and staff the opportunity to become involved in elections, we needed to close the college at least for presidential elections,” Meehan said in the statement. “I do not know of a better way of putting commitment into action.”

Alverno, a four-year Catholic college for women, is working with the City of Milwaukee Election Commission to provide poll worker training to interested students.

Although students at the University of Wisconsin will not be given the day off from classes, the administration understands the importance of the political process and is urging students to plan ahead, according to a statement released Wednesday.

“We’ve told faculty members that voter turnout is likely to be high this year and that there will potentially be long lines, especially if a student hasn’t already registered, which can make it a longer voting process,” said John Lucas, UW spokesperson. “We want faculty members to be understanding and flexible if a student has to be late or miss a meeting.”

UW political science professor Donald Downs said scheduling time around classes to make it to the polls on Election Day teaches students how to manage their time.

“College is a place where you’re supposed to learn about life and about prioritizing,” Downs said. “We’re here to educate and prepare people for the real world, and students need to learn how to balance schedules.”

In the “real world,” multiple states have provisions in their laws that mandate employers to give workers time off on Election Day for voting.

The National Federation of Independent Business reported 14 states allowed one or two hours off from work to vote on Election Day, 20 states have no mandated voting breaks in the workplace.

Wisconsin is among eight states to provide voters with three or more hours away from work, preventing an employer from directing someone to vote before or after a work shift as well as to aid voters from waiting in long lines at the polls, according to NFIB.

In making the decision to cancel classes on Election Day, Downs said he believes that universities and colleges need to consider their ultimate motive.

“Are they doing it because they want students to vote as an act of good citizenship?” Downs said, “Or, are they doing it because of whom they think the students might be voting for?”

Downs said he wondered if Alverno College would have cancelled classes if John McCain, the Republican presidential nominee, were leading polls by a large margin.

“It has to be a nonpartisan position,” Downs said. “If they’re doing it because they’re hoping for a certain outcome, that’s bad. Are they going to make up for the time [off from class]?”

Christine McCarrier, web coordinator of marketing communications for Alverno, noted in an email that the day off has been long planned, and semester schedules had accommodated to day off.