The untold story of winter break

Classes have started up again, but as students begin the second semester, many wonder why it starts so late. We are almost a full week into February before teachers finish passing out syllabi and move on to real content. Every year Princeton’s unique schedule comes into question, but the issue is quickly forgotten as students plunge into a semester that proceeds non-stop except for spring break.

Princeton’s schedule is unique among the Ivies, with final exams being taken in mid to late January after winter break. Additionally, there is no standard length to the breaks. This year, most students returned to campus the week of January 5, since winter break was a meager two weeks.

USG has not put forth a sustained effort to change the university schedule for many years. Former USG President Ella Cheng noted that such efforts were difficult because of how far in advance the faculty votes on the schedule for a given year, almost four years in advance. Cheng commented that the schedule was also difficult to change because of the implications for athletics. Any serious change in the schedule would cause serious a shake-up in terms of practice regulations or return dates for athletes.

While last year 96.2 percent of voters supported standardizing a three-week-long break in a referendum, the possibility of moving Dean’s Date and final exams to before winter break has not been addressed by the student body in recent years. There has not been a referendum on said issue, but there are many reasons why ending the semester in December and having a longer winter break would benefit a large part of the student body.

The combination of short winter break and Intersession, rather than one longer break after finals, makes it difficult for some students to return home for a significant period of time. It also divides the fall semester. With a full week off for fall break, Thanksgiving, as well as winter break, the fall semester is incredibly spread out.

The current schedule may also not be what is best for students academically. And no matter how responsible Princeton students are over winter break, it is difficult to argue that leaving the classroom for two weeks before coming back for reading period really helps students keep the lectures and readings fresh in their minds come Dean’s Date and finals.

If all of this is true, why has the schedule remained the same for so long? What many students don’t realize is that the faculty — the professors — hold most of the scheduling power. For many professors, the current schedule is ideal for their own work, research and publication thereof. This year teaching professors gave their last lectures the week of December 14, the latter half of December, and the entire month of January could have been used to attend academic conferences and conduct research.

Initially, this seems like a case in which the faculty is using their power for their own interests at the expense of what is best for their students. In other words, professors seem more interested in their own careers and academic lives than in actually serving students.

However, it is not so black and white. Being so focused on undergraduates, Princeton puts its professors in a difficult position. Princeton professors are expected not only to take their teaching duties very seriously, but also to produce copious amounts of research and publications so as to compete with professors at other institutions, which do not apply the same teaching responsibilities to their faculty. While many other institutions outsource much of their teaching to graduate students, except for the lucky few in the Institute for Advanced Study, most Princeton professors teach at least one course each academic year.

While many students focus on the inconvenience of travel for international students and athletes, they often forget to consider that the current schedule might be ideal for the 850 full-time faculty members that make Princeton such an incredible undergraduate-centric university. Princeton aims to be the premier undergraduate university and also to compete on the high-end academic level. The current academic calendar provides an important window for faculty to contribute to academia — contributions that we students rarely value but that is largely the invisible groundwork for Princeton’s prestige.

Luke Gamble is a sophomore from Eagle, Idaho. He can be reached at ljgamble@princeton.edu.