Editorial: Schedule improvements

The office of the dean of the college, the Office of the Dean of the Faculty and the Undergraduate Student Government have been leading a series of focus groups to discuss the scheduling of the fall semester. The groups focus on two proposals that advocate for extending Thanksgiving break to a full week by eliminating fall break. However, the Board believes there is a more viable option: starting classes on the second Monday of September instead of the following Thursday.

The current calendar positions Princeton’s fall semester such that students and faculty cannot take full advantage of Thanksgiving break without sacrificing either important instructional time or time at home with family. Professors, facing the likely prospect of empty lecture halls and classrooms, often cancel class and attempt to reschedule this lost instructional time during weekends or reading period. Students, short on travel time, often skip Wednesday classes or decide not to make the journey home. Both students and faculty members struggle with the current system.

But the University’s proposed tradeoff between Thanksgiving and fall break is not a viable solution. In fact, it would actually be more detrimental to students’ and faculty’s time both on and off campus. More days added on to Thanksgiving at the expense of fall break would eliminate valuable travel opportunities offered during this staple of the Princeton academic calendar. Fall break allows students the time to recharge after midterms, pursue volunteer work on Breakout trips, conduct thesis research, campaign for elections, intern with alumni and explore the world on freshman-seminar fieldtrips. With fall break eliminated and replaced by a weeklong Thanksgiving break, students would be less likely to take advantage of these University-sponsored opportunities as returning home for Thanksgiving would likely take priority.

As a result, the Board supports adjusting the University’s academic calendar such that classes would begin on the second Monday of September. Consequently, pre-orientation programs, such as international pre-orientation, Outdoor and Community Action, and freshman week would each occur one week earlier than their current start date. Shifting orientations and the commencement of the academic year in this way would reduce the loss of travel and instructional time around Thanksgiving, maximize class time within the current 12-week semester and preserve the benefits of fall break. In short, students and faculty would enjoy the benefits of maximized instructional and vacation time because it would add much-needed travel days to Thanksgiving break, preserve fall break and give professors 12 full weeks of class.

Therefore the Board strongly advocates against the current proposals that increase the days for Thanksgiving break at the expense of fall break. Instead, we argue for the implementation of an academic calendar that would preserve fall break and extend Thanksgiving break by starting the academic year a few days earlier. In this way students and faculty could have it all — two full and fulfilling break periods, without having to skimp on the most important aspect of their Princeton experience — a rewarding education inside and outside the classroom.