Academic calendar 2024-25

After months of consideration, the academic calendar for 2024-25 has been set. Per the request of the music department, the week before finals week no longer is the same as tech week for Festival of Christmas. To make this happen, the start date for fall semester has been moved to after Labor Day, putting Commencement on Dec. 20. Other compromises made by the faculty include no Spring Advising Day and a faster turnaround for fall semester grades. 

Wind Symphony participants Allison Magnuson and Grace Burkholder noted in a letter to the Faculty Senate that without a change to the academic calendar, “students and faculty will be forced to choose between preparing for Festival and preparing for finals. Attempting to do both will be detrimental to the health of all involved.”

New module schedule to be implemented fall 2024

In order to make space for the increase in 4-credit courses, senators are set to vote on a new module schedule at next month’s meeting. If passed, the schedule will be implemented fall 2024, and major changes will include moving community time from 11:15 a.m. to 3:20 p.m. This change also decreases community time from 50 minutes to 40 minutes. Library Representative Rhonda Gilbraith mentioned that this would be an issue specifically for the “Primetime” series in the library. 

Senators also expressed concern that because this time is often used for extracurricular activities, those in music ensembles and athletic programs would be required to choose between the two activities. 

Associate Provost Julie Finnern asked faculty to discuss with their departments whether moving community time to 1:25 p.m. would help solve issues.