The academic calendar will be reviewed this fall by the Committee for the Course of Study, a group of about a dozen administrators and students that oversees changes to the curriculum.
"It has been about 15 years since the issue had been raised, and it seemed as though it was time to review where we are," President Tilghman said in an email on Wednesday.
Dean of the College Nancy Malkiel, who chairs the committee, said that given the length of time since the academic calendar was last discussed, it was "appropriate to open a general discussion next year about whether that calendar still serves us well in accomplishing our educational objectives."
The committee will focus on three parts of the calendar: semester length, the timing of the exams and whether fall break should coincide with Thanksgiving.
"We're one of the few schools that have this schedule structure, so it begs the question about whether or not we should look at changing it," said Undergraduate Life Chair Tom Brown '07, one of the students who raised this issue with the administration.
Harvard, the only other Ivy League school on the same schedule as Princeton, will hold a faculty vote later this spring on whether to revamp their current calendar and curriculum. One of the proposed changes is the inclusion of a month-long January term, or J-term, between the spring and fall semesters, during which students would be able to pursue elective courses.
Brown called the academic calendar an "unaddressed issue." He said the University "owed it to ourselves as an institution that's trying to provide the best opportunities we can to take a look at it."
The committee will be "taking a rigorous look at the facts" and considering the impact of the current academic calendar on topics such as the study abroad programs, athletic teams and student stress, he added.
Malkiel said the committee will consider issues like how well the schedule is currently working, whether it enables the University to accomplish its educational objectives and if there are things that need to be reconsidered or improved.
The committee is chaired by Malkiel, with Associate Dean of the College Hank Dobin serving as secretary. It also comprises nine elected faculty members and representatives from the Academic Committee of the USG.
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