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Blog ArchiveCalendar Angst
Graham B. Spanier
November 24, 2008 It's that time of the year. It's that time of the year for holidays...and that time when students aren't on campus much due to breaks in classes. It reminds me of one of the most vexing issues faculty and administrators face: The Calendar. Every few years or so we debate whether to reinvent the wheel, anguishing about when to start the Thanksgiving break-after classes on the Friday before, at the end of the day on Tuesday or Wednesday, or at noon on Wednesday. We've tried them all, often in a vain attempt to discourage students from missing the last day of classes before the holiday. Christmas has its challenges as well. When do we schedule the winter commencement? How much time should the students have allotted to get home? Do we make the break long enough for a short winter educational experience? Do we start classes for the spring semester close to New Year's, or later? Before or after Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday? How will it all affect the end of the spring semester, summer jobs or employment after graduation? Whew! Faculty concerns about the calendar are relevant as well. They have children who are enrolled in schools with their own calendar concerns. The timing of spring break is often a challenge. Certain faculty professional organizations are notorious for historically peculiar timing of the annual meetings, such as during the first week of fall semester classes at some schools. The Modern Language Association avoids such problems by holding its meeting between Christmas and New Year's Day. Ouch. Low hotel rates are a small consolation, I suppose. When I was a teenager working after school, weekends and summers to save money for college, I worked in a clothing store frequented by people with means. I recall that at this time of year we brought in clothing for a special season called "Cruise." Folks came in to buy clothes for their children to wear on their holiday cruises, which often extended right through the winter holiday. Way back then, I suppose, certain college and university calendars were expected to accommodate such extended breaks. During the calendar deliberations in my administrative career at several public universities there has always been a healthy debate, with most faculty on the side of wanting semesters with a full 14 or 15 weeks of classes in order to guarantee as much class time as possible. Some faculty, of course, desire more time for their scholarly work or other commitments and would prefer a shorter semester. But I've also noticed that many of the schools with the highest tuition have the shortest calendars - as short as 12 weeks of classes in the semester - while some of the less expensive public universities have the longest calendars. I'm sure there are lots of theories about it all, involving matters of tradition, concepts of learning, and even historical expectations about "Cruise." |
