Calendar Changes?

Proposed new schedule would change the academic calendar in 2010
By Travis Fick
News Editor

A proposed calendar change for the 2010-11 academic year would reconfigure the spring semester schedule in order to better fit with high schools and other colleges, said Dr. Thomas Mans, Saint Mary’s University’s vice president for academic affairs.

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According to Dr. Jeffrey Highland, university provost and vice president of the college, a task force is in charge of gathering information from students, faculty and staff on what they think about the change. It will meet in March to review the findings, which they will then report to the President’s Cabinet. The President will ultimately make the decision after the full reviewing process.

The proposed schedule would lengthen Christmas break by one week while moving February break. The second semester would begin Jan. 18 instead of the current Jan. 11.

For faculty and staff, the extended Christmas break means adding more time between the deadline to submit grades and the beginning of the new semester.

“The faculty expressed the desire to have more time (to) spend with their families as well as time to plan,” said Mans.
“We have a very short Christmas break that eliminates important personal time with families.”

Additionally, the spring recess would be pushed back to Feb. 26 through March 6. Easter recess would be from April 21-25. Mans said the last day of classes will not change and that the number of days on break will remain the same.

The schedule change was proposed by a resolution from the faculty that said, “Changes in the academic calendar would improve the environment for both teaching and learning in the undergraduate college.”

Changing to this type of schedule is not uncommon, said Mans, who encountered a similar change at the last university for which he worked. “The students, faculty and families desired a more normalized schedule that was closer to that of the majority of the schools,” said Mans.

Mans said students and their families
would be able to better plan for trips, as the break schedule would fit better with other schools.

The 2009-10 academic calendar will remain the same structure as this year, said Mans.

Julie Jergenson, student senate president, and Russell Mollo, student senate vice president for academic affairs, are the student representatives on the schedule change task force. Mollo said they were unable to comment on the schedule change due to the on-going process.

A separate proposed change is to eliminate classes on Labor Day.

Mollo said that any questions or comments should be addressed to himself or Jergenson.