Survey says: something

Last spring, Princeton undergraduates were given the opportunity to complete a survey issued by Dean of the College Nancy Malkiel's office about calendar reform. Though the Committee on the Course of Study cited a lack of any clear student preference on that survey in its decision to table the debate, this perceived indecisiveness can be attributed mostly to the structure of the survey itself. In that survey students were given three options, with two schedules including fall-term final exams before winter break, and one reflecting the current calendar. Because students disagreed about the intricacies of the two proposed calendar changes, none of the three options stood out as a consensus.

While the particularities such as the number of days off provided for Fall and Thanksgiving breaks are certainly important, these issues are likely of far less concern to students than the single issue of fall-term exam scheduling. Minor differences between the three proposed calendar reformations shouldn't distract the Committee on the Course of Study from the simple truth: Students overwhelmingly favor a system in which fall-term exams are given before winter break.

Student concerns should of course be balanced with those of the faculty, who, unlike current students, will be directly affected by academic calendar reform. Since no clear preference has emerged from the faculty about the issue either, a one-question survey should be posed to students and faculty alike: Should the University reform its academic calendar to schedule fall-term final exams before winter break? Unless no clear consensus emerges from that survey, the issue cannot truly be considered "dead in the water," as history professor and Committee member Hendrik Hartog put it. Once this central issue has been resolved, particularities of midterm periods and Fall and Thanksgiving breaks can be discussed.

Even though none of the survey participants would benefit from any of the proposed schedule changes, 1,400 students voted in a calendar-reform survey conducted by the USG last year. That a majority of students voted to alter the current schedule demonstrates the importance of such reforms to students. Until the academic calendar is reformed, the issue will be a perennial source of student frustration as each fall brings a new class of students to campus.