Fuchs

In updating the Faculty Senate on campus issues Sept. 12, Provost Kent Fuchs announced that he has approved the recommendations for a revised academic calendar proposed by the university's Calendar Committee and ratified by the Faculty Senate in May 2012. The changes will go into effect beginning in the spring semester of 2014, he said.

"I applaud the committee's dedicated service," Fuchs said in a university statement on the revisions to the academic calendar.

At the Faculty Senate meeting, Fuchs noted three modifications to those recommendations that will also be implemented:

• A new university holiday, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, for all employees will be implemented in 2014;
• Fall semester classes will begin later than they currently do, starting on the Tuesday before Labor Day, for four of every six years. In two of every six years classes will need to begin before that Tuesday to accommodate the winter graduation ceremony in December;
• The details regarding the scheduling of exams still need to be worked out.

The revisions to the academic calendar are the result of nearly two years of committee discussion and university community input and review. The committee -- comprising faculty, students and staff -- was charged with re-examining the current calendar and proposing changes that would: address university concerns about student stress and mental health related to prolonged periods of instruction without multi-day breaks; enhance educational opportunities; and comply with New York State Education Department requirements.

The new calendar divides the spring semester roughly into thirds by adding a two-day winter break on the Monday and Tuesday of Presidents Week and moving the weeklong spring break to late March.

In the fall semester, a two-day break will occur near Columbus Day, and the day before Thanksgiving will be a full day without classes, rather than a half-day.

The exam schedule in both semesters would be modified to include, in the middle of the exam period, an additional day with no scheduled exams. And the provost and the dean of the faculty will appoint a committee of faculty, students and staff to advise on a final exam schedule that spaces out exams and reduces the number of students who have back-to-back exams or three exams in 24 hours.

Other topics Fuchs addressed at the Faculty Senate meeting included an update on the budget model, undergraduate financial aid, the New York City tech campus, Cornell's international engagement, open online courses consortiums and the library's collections.

Notable changes to the academic calendar 

Beginning in the spring of 2014: 

• Martin Luther King Jr. Day becomes a university holiday. 

• Classes begin the Wednesday after Martin Luther King Jr. Day. 

• A two-day winter break is implemented during President's Week. 

• Spring break occurs in late March/early April. 

• Spring semester exams are preceded by a two-day study break and the weekend, and the nine-day exam period includes a one-day study break. 

Beginning in the fall of 2014: 

• The Wednesday before Thanksgiving will be a full- rather than half-day without classes. 

• Classes end the Friday following Thanksgiving break weekend. 

• Fall semester exams are preceded by a two-day study break and the weekend, and the nine-day exam period includes a one-day study break.