Students Get the Long View

Pick a day four years out and what should you see?

University of West Georgia administrators hope incoming freshman will see their graduation date.

A new four-year academic calendar has been adopted, which will allow students and faculty to make long-range plans for instruction, exams, breaks and the all-important graduation date, said Dr. Jon Anderson, associate vice president for academic affairs.

The new academic calendar is the result of work last fall by the Faculty Senate Academic Policies and Procedure Committee, he said.

“It was a lot of quick work,” Anderson said.

The four-year academic calendar has been released to the campus community and will be posted online at Academic Calendar, the same location as the current calendar. It goes into effect in the fall. Printed calendars will also be available.

With the new calendar come a few changes. Among them: the fall term begins 11 days later, which allows the school to save on energy costs; students will be off the entire week of Thanksgiving; a week-long spring break comes in the third week of March.

Also, the spring and fall terms will be 15 weeks, where previously they were 16 weeks, Anderson said.

“The senate committee did a survey of the faculty and 80 percent preferred the shorter time period,” he said. “There was strong consensus around the model.”

There will be 12 weeks available for the summer mini semesters.

“The real plus of the long-term, four-year calendar is that it allows students to plan for jobs in the summer,” Anderson said.

The later start “also allows students to remain on their summer jobs longer, earning more money for their education,” said Dr. Peter S. Hoff, the interim provost and vice president for Academic Affairs.

And, of course, there is graduation.

“When freshmen come, they know when graduation is,” Anderson said.

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