As subway trains start grinding along the tracks and lights slowly flickered back on Friday night in Lower Manhattan, the NYU community is preparing to return to its usual schedule on Monday.

On one hand, this means wireless Internet access, electricity and hot water will gradually return to all NYU buildings for the first time in almost a week. On the other hand, this also means students will have to return class after nearly a week of missed classes just as midterm season is wrapping up, and the transition from Kimmel campout to classroom seems daunting to some students.

“I feel like it’s taking away from my tuition, and I really don’t feel like we should take this much time to recover,” said Colin Chen, a first-year graduate student.

But NYU spokesman John Beckman assured that the university is working with the individual schools and deans to reschedule assignments and exams appropriately.

“We know that many students have been concerned about assignments this week,” he said. “Deans and faculty will be discussing how to take a common sense and flexible approach to that issue.”

NYU President John Sexton also said the university has emphasized that faculty will adjust, but not lower, academic standards despite the time lost, so that students can get the most out of their semester.

“We expect the classes to be made up, and I would be surprised if that was not the case in all cases,” Sexton said.

NYU’s procedure is similar to other universities that have weathered tropical storms and hurricanes in the past.

Linda Devine, vice president of operations and planning at the University of Tampa in Florida, said their standard procedure is to allow faculty to determine how academic requirements are made up after a major, unplanned interruption in the academic calendar.

“In the past several years, storms have caused us to cancel classes and other operations for a few days, depending on the storm,” she said.

Even in a particularly severe storm year, make-up decisions were still left up to faculty members, Devine said.

“In the unusual 2004 storm year, Tampa was affected by three storms in six weeks, the faculty established 'make-up' days to help compensate for the missed classes,” she added.

Some students said they could not care less about missing classes, emphasizing that NYU has provided free temporary shelter at Kimmel Center for University Life and Bobst Library and that free meals helped lighten the burden.

“I pretty much think all the service staff who stayed deserve medals,” said Nicholas Metcalfe, a CAS junior.

However, many professors and teaching assistants who have spent the week cooped up in their apartments far away from campus said they feel well prepared to get back on track when classes resume next week.

“I take Megabus and then the subway to NYU, and I don't anticipate any problems getting to NYU,” said Amy Millett, a teaching assistant at Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development.

Meanwhile, Jonathan Zimmerman, professor of Education and History at NYU, said he thinks it is fine for the university to hold classes on Monday and to ask everyone to try to get to campus.

But he said he would not expect the entire student or faculty body to show up, as there may still be transit glitches remaining on Monday.

“If the tunnels are closed again on Monday, I won't be able to teach,” he said. “And it won't be my fault, either.”

Hanqing Chen is an assistant managing editor. Email her at [email protected].