Changes to next year's academic calendar posted earlier this semester will cut the upcoming Summer Break a little short, affecting the summer plans of many University students and faculty.
Students are set to return to classes on Wednesday, Aug. 24, approximately a week earlier than last year.
"We acknowledge that there wasn't as much notice as there might normally be [regarding the calendar change], but the feeling was that we need to go ahead and change these issues in a timely manner," University spokesperson Carol Wood said.
The changes were made as a result of conversations between students and administrators.
"The University had been hearing from students and their parents about how difficult it was for our students to get holiday jobs because the semester was going so late into December and by the time students were going home, there were no more holiday jobs," Wood said.
This started discussion between the University and students, and it came to light that students also were concerned about the length of Thanksgiving break, Wood added.
"What they decided was slide one of the reading days onto Thanksgiving break," Wood said. "In essence by changing the calendar, we addressed two pretty critical issues that were affecting our students."
But the change in the calendar does seem to create some problems for faculty members as well as students.
"For our staff it's tough because of orientation," Dean of Students Penny Rue said. "It'll have to be a really quick turn-around. We'll just have to compress our time and have less time for training. It'll make it tougher for staff to take vacations."
History Prof. Maya Jasanoff said she is unhappy with the early start of school.
"It takes away a week of research time, and I was planning to go abroad to do some research," Jasanoff said. "I would prefer to start a week later because the thing is we need time to prep."
First-year College student Liz Costello also said she finds the early start inconvenient.
"It's affecting my working plans because otherwise I would be taking an internship, and they really wanted me, but they needed me for that last weekend," Costello said.
She did, however, acknowledge some positive aspects of the schedule changes.
"I'm definitely excited about the week off for Thanksgiving break because I didn't go home for Thanksgiving last year," Costello said.
Dialogue that Rue has had with students supports Costello's sentiments.
"I hear that students are happy about some aspects of the change," Rue said. "A lot of students are really happy about getting out earlier and having a longer Thanksgiving break."
University Registrar Carol Stanley said the changes in the calendar are not that drastic. She said that if one looks at previous years' calendars, the University is not starting that much earlier next fall.
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