Committee discusses calendar reform

A committee of about a dozen administrators and students will reexamine the University's academic calendar today, discussing whether to recommend changes that could range from minor scheduling tweaks to conducting fall term final exams before winter break.

The Committee on the Course of Study began its inquiry in November and committee members stressed they are at a very preliminary stage of review.

It is uncertain whether any changes will be recommended or what those changes would be. However, if the committee decides alterations are warranted, it would most likely conclude discussion and conduct a vote in late April, committee member Robert Wai Wong '06 said.

Wong, the USG academics chair, added that he believes it is high time for a review of the calendar.

"The reason we're doing this is because [15] years ago the Committee on the Course of Study had a similar yearlong discussion, and after that period decided the calendar that we had at the moment was appropriate," he said. "In past years, when parents or other folks asked, 'Why do we still do things this way?' the response has been, 'We [already] went through this very thorough, long discussion and concluded that this is the best thing for Princeton.' But it's tough to say that when it's been [15] years."

Wong stressed that even if the committee does propose changes, this would not necessarily entail a major overhaul of the University's schedule.

"The biggest thing that students always talk about is exams before Christmas and starting [the academic year] earlier," he said. "[But] there could be smaller changes to the calendar than just exams before Christmas. That's a drastic change that could take a long time to implement."

Along with Harvard, the University is one of two Ivy League schools that conduct final examinations for the fall semester in January, after winter break. Last spring, a Harvard committee suggested changing the school's calendar and creating a separate, month-long January term. The Harvard faculty was not able to vote on the proposal before year's end.

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Princeton's schedule is also distinctive for starting later in the fall than many other schools, and for its fall break, which occurs in late October or early November. The week-long vacation was originally established in the 1970s so that students could campaign for political candidates.

During the Committee on the Course of Study meeting in November, Dean of the College Nancy Malkiel — who chairs the committee — cited the history of fall break to emphasize the flexibility of the University's schedule, Wong said.

"People swear they can't live without [fall break]. Students in general feel they couldn't survive without break after midterms," he said. "But Malkiel's point was that fall break has only been around for 20 years ... The bars for changing things may not be as rigid as we think they are."

Wong emphasized that as far as he knows, eliminating fall break is "not on the table at all" during this year's review of the calendar.

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Malkiel declined to comment when contacted by The Daily Princetonian.

Committee member Bradley Dickinson, an electrical engineering professor, said in an email that he believes calendar changes "would be good if they provide collectively beneficial new opportunities or efficiencies," though he also noted there are "trade-offs inherent in designing a 'new' calendar."

He added that it is too early for him to form conclusive opinions on the subject.

"My views will be formed as a discussion progresses," Dickinson said. "As to likelihood [of changes occurring], Yogi Berra said something about it being difficult to make predictions, especially about the future."

Wong also said it was too early for him to estimate the likelihood of changes occurring, or to give his own views on changes he would like to see.

"We listed a lot of pros and a lot of cons [to changing the calendar]," Wong said, referring to the discussion that took place at the November meeting. "Now, to quantitatively weigh those will be our challenge."