Calendar-Reform Plan Takes Shape

Dan Page/Theispot

A committee looking at changing the University’s ACADEMIC CALENDAR is recommending that Princeton begin the fall and spring semesters earlier, hold fall-term exams before the winter break in December, implement a two-week “wintersession” for non-credit activities in January, and shorten final-exam periods.

Under the proposed calendar, classes would start on the Tuesday after Labor Day or the Wednesday preceding the holiday. The spring semester would start and end one week earlier than it does under the current calendar, and Reunions and Commencement would also take place one week sooner.

Students and faculty were surveyed by the committee in January. The survey found support for the proposed changes from more than 70 percent of faculty members and undergraduates and more than 80 percent of graduate students who responded.

The committee submitted its plan to the faculty advisory committee on policy, which will decide whether to advance the proposal to the full faculty for a vote.