University of Virginia Library

Colloquium

Summer Vacation Mars Calendar Reform

By KENNETH C. JACOBS

—Ed.)

On the evening of 11
January 1972 I spoke briefly at
the open meeting of The
Committee On The Calendar
(chaired by Professor Ralph W.
Cherry). I expressed some of
the feelings of the Astronomy
Department regarding calendar
reform, gave my own
preferences, explicated the
three-year 11-6-11 (weeks)
system being considered by
Princeton University, and
proposed a "radical" 4-4-4
(months) system to utilize the
facilities of the University
year-round.

The Committee is
investigating many different
types of calendars, but at that
meeting only one — the
early-start, two-semester
system — received much
support. It appears that most
students, and many faculty,
desire the first semester
examinations to end just
before the start of the
Christmas recess.

It seems clear that the
fundamental impediment to
objective calendar reform is the
summer vacation — an albatross
inherited from our country's
rural past. I say this because
virtually all calendar reform
schemes of which I am aware
maintain the June through
August period sacrosanct; most
are simple restructuring of the
time available in the
"permitted" September to May
period.

In the very near future,
most educational institutions
will be required to utilize their
facilities on a year-round basis.
Many pressures are combining
(especially financial pressures)
to make this step
inevitable—even in the case of
the University of Virginia at
Charlottesville. The time is
right to rethink the entire
question of academic calendar
reform. For these reasons, but
primarily to loosen the mental
straitjacket of preconceived
notions, I have proposed the
following 4-4-4 system.

Consider an academic
calendar composed of three
sessions, each of four-month
duration: July through
October, November through
February, and March through
June. School runs year-round,
but a person (student or
faculty) "attends" for only
two sessions (8 months) per
year (12 months). A student
may enter the system at the
beginning of any session, so
that a type of free-market
decision determines the
enrollment figures.

Now 50 percent more
people can be accommodated
(when averaged over a year)
than in the standard
two-semester-plus-summer-vacation
scheme, though
the in-residence population
density is the same for both
plans. While physical
facilities—other than faculty
office space—need not be
expanded in moving to the
4-4-4 system, the number of
faculty must grow by 50
percent (when averaged over a
year).

We see that the summer has
been split into two parts, but
there are advantages to this
procedure. Those interested in
a "late summer vacation"
would opt for school from
November through June; an
"early summer vacation"
implies attending school from
July to February; and a
"winter vacation" puts one
into the March to October
sessions.

Note, finally, that no
educational time has been
sacrificed, but that one's
extended "vacation" is
longer—4 months—than in the
current scheme of things.

I hope that these few words
and thoughts provide fuel for
new ideas and comments on
the intricacies of calendar
planning. All thoughtful
criticisms and suggestions are
most welcome.