The Cavalier daily :: Tuesday, February 17, 1970 :: University of Virginia Library

If the new 1971-72 school calendar
proposed by the University Committee
on Calendar and Scheduling is approved
by President Shannon, University
students will be able to have a 26-day
study-free Christmas vacation.

The calendar was proposed by Ron
Cass, one of the four student members of
the committee. Essentially, if the
calendar is approved the school year,
starting in August 1971 would run as
follows:

Students would register for the fall
semester on August 25 and 26. Classes
would begin on August 27 and run until
November 23 with only one break. September
6, for Labor Day.

Thanksgiving Break would last for five days,
Wednesday, November 24 through Sunday,
November 28. Classes would begin again on
November 29.

Fall semester exams would begin before
vacation on December 14 and would be
conducted for eight days until Wednesday,
December 22.

Big Break

Following exams would come the biggest
change in the calendar. Students would have off
from December 23 through Sunday, January 16
a break of 26 days without any studying for
exams.

Registration for the second semester would
be on Monday, January 17 and classes would
begin on the following day.

The first part of the second semester would
run from January 18 through Friday, March 31.
Spring vacation would begin on April 1 and
would be the usual length of time, nine days,
ending on Sunday, April 9.

Exams for the second semester would begin
on May 9 and last until May 17. Graduation
would take place on May 21.

Presently, exams end early in June, almost
two weeks later than they would end on the
proposed calendar.

Mr. Cass, in commenting on the benefits of
the calendar, listed two major advantages.

The first of these advantages would most
obviously be the longer Christmas vacation.
With exams occurring before the long break,
students would be able to have at least 26 days
of study-free relaxation.

With this longer vacation, students could
also get jobs for the break to supplement their
income.

Spring Semester

The second major advantage of the calendar
would be the early end to the spring semester.
With students leaving in the middle of May Mr.
Cass indicated that they could have more time
early in the summer to look for employment or
go on a vacation.

One seeming disadvantage to the new
calender would be early registration for the fall
semester in late August. Mr. Cass, however,
stated that the registration would be so late in
August as to make "little difference."

Mr. Cass also stated, however, that research
is now being done into the length of the
University's semester in comparison with other
schools. Mr. Cass stated that he felt that if
evidence was found that the University had
unusually long semesters, something might be
done to alleviate the early fall registration in
the 1972-73 school calendar.

A calendar similar to Mr. Cass' was
presented two years ago to the President but
was not approved. Instead, President Shannon
ordered the future of the University
Committee to examine the possibilities of
ending the two-semester year and establishing a
4-1-4 program.

4-1-4

In a 4-1-4 program, students would go to
school for 4 months, then go on a work
program outside the University o would be
able to conduct independent study for one
month. The students would then return to
classes for another four months.

Mr. Cass stated that he believed that there
were two reasons for the previous proposal's
being rejected.

The first of these reasons was that the fall
registration would have taken place in the
middle of August.

The second reason that Mr. Cass gave was
that he felt that President Shannon was
"hoping for a unanimous opinion on one plan"
instead of being presented with different plans.

Mr. Cass stated, however, that the Future of
the University Committee only has "the same
information now that the Calendar and
Scheduling Committee had two years ago."

Mr. Cass then said that this seems to be the
only proposal that has been presented to
President Shannon that has approached the
previous suggestions for changes in the
calendar.

The new calendar would not change the
two-semester year to any other type of
program, however.

In discussing the comments that he has
received on the proposed calendar, Mr. Cass
stated that he has spoken to a few of the deans
of the various schools of the University and
that they have been in favor of the new
calendar.