From the Chair

Thirty days hath September and we need to use them all
 
       The Senate Executive Committee overwhelmingly adopted a statement on  the academic calendar at its meeting on March 4, 1992 (Almanac March  17, 1992).  That statement  was focused on "(t)he faculty's concern  regarding ... its need to have adequate hours and days within which to  discharge its instructional responsibilities."  A result of this  concern was the recommendation that "(t)he administration and the  faculty should explore the possibility of equalizing the length of the  two semesters by extending the fall semester."

A recent thoughtful and well-documented report (Almanac, November 23,  1993) of the Student Committee on Undergraduate Education Subcommittee  on the Academic Calendar calls for an equalization of teaching days  and reading days between the two semesters. Currently the spring  semester is 14 weeks while the fall is 13.  There are now two weekday  reading days in the fall and three in the spring. 

Change in the spring term calendar can be easily achieved since the  constraints on the calendar are not severe.  The situation in the fall  is much more difficult since there is consensus that the term must end  before Christmas.  Thanksgiving break is nonnegotiable and "SCUE finds  acceptable no calendar which does not include a full two day Fall  Break in October. The Fall Break ... remains very important for the  undergraduate student population in terms of mental health and  personal and academic considerations."

The above goals and constraints - increasing instruction and weekday  reading days in the fall - ending before Christmas and maintaining  Fall Break - lead to the inescapable conclusion that the Fall term  must begin prior to Labor Day.  We realize that this will not be a popular decision.  It will cause  difficulty for faculty with school age children since Penn will begin  before local primary schools and, even though we  propose maintaining the Labor Day holiday, some faculty will have to  interrupt vacation schedules.  Nevertheless we see no alternative.  As  the title suggests we need to use all of September for instruction.   Among peer universities, Cornell, Duke, Virginia and Yale have already  adopted calendars that begin before Labor Day.

The SCUE report has been endorsed by the Senate Committee on Students and Educational Policy.  It is scheduled for discussion at the March meetings of  the Senate Executive Committee and the University Council.  We urge all members of the community to discuss  this report with their elected representatives.   The schedule for 1994-95 is already set.  We need to act now to  implement a revised calendar for 1995-96.