COMMITTEE: Calendar

MEETING DATE: October 26, 2006

PERSON PRESIDING: John Crammer

ATTENDEES: Jonathan Dembo, Punam Madhok, Johna Faulconer, John Crammer, Stephen Dock,

EX-OFFICIO: Mary Farwell

VISITORS:

The meeting was called to order at 11:00 am in Rawl 142 by John Crammer. Mary Farwell moved (Stephen Dock seconded) approval of the minutes for the September 28 meeting with minor changes. Motion passed.

It was agreed to postpone discussion of the survey concerning Memorial Day until Shana Gibson and Austin Bunch are at a meeting. The committee should wait for the Executive Council to decide whether Memorial Day will be a holiday for staff before doing anything further. Crammer sent an e-mail to Bunch asking about the Memorial Day decision.

The committee continued working on the 2008-2009 calendar. Crammer stated that Angela Anderson had expressed a preference that the dates for the latest finish for the fall semester and the earliest start for the spring semester allow enough time for grades to be posted before Christmas and for handling fees after New Years Day. Farwell said that the Registrar’s Office has been reasonable in the past. Bunch had told the committee at an earlier meeting that consideration was being given to moving commencement to Friday (from Saturday).

In the fall, the committee has determined that classes should start on Wednesday (displeasure was expressed when we tried to start classes on Monday or Tuesday). Jonathan Dembo asked whether we considered having only one commencement per year and that being in the spring. Farwell said that the Executive Council makes the decision. Dock asked whether all state universities have a fall commencement. Crammer responded that East Carolina used to have only a spring commencement and that December graduates were treated badly. Dembo said that fall commencement causes problems. Crammer said that one solution for the fall is to not have a Reading Day and start with the light exam day. Crammer described a light exam day as one with exams for 10 am, 1 pm, and 4 pm TTh classes and involves relatively few students; he will provide numbers at the next meeting. Dock suggested another solution would be to shorten Fall Break to one day. Farwell and Dock said that some Masters degree students are hooded before they are even near finishing their degrees. Crammer said he would contact Bunch to suggest that having fall commencement on Friday might lead to no Reading Day or a Fall Break of only one day.

The committee decided to work from the suggested alternatives for fall and spring rather than the form that replaced the 2007-2008 dates with 2008-2009 dates; this was done to avoid finishing too close to Christmas and starting unusually later in the spring. Farwell said that some of her colleagues thought that the week for Spring Break was later than they would prefer and would like the break moved one week earlier than it currently is. This led to a discussion as to whether to put Spring Break during the first or the second full week in March; the main concern was how many weeks of class come before the break and how many weeks of class follow the break. The committee also discussed whether Fall Break should be moved. Johna Faulconer said that having Fall Break during State Fair week (as it was this year) is a good idea. Farwell and Faulconer said it is difficult to coordinate our calendar with the public schools because our calendar is set earlier than their calendar. Crammer said he would create the narrative form of the calendar based on the new dates and suggested changes.

The next meeting of the committee is tentatively scheduled for Thursday, November 30 at 11:00 am conditionally on Austin Bunch being able to attend the meeting; otherwise the next meeting will be in January. The committee will hear from Austin Bunch concerning the Executive Council’s decision regarding Memorial Day and, depending on their decision, from Shanan Gibson concerning the faculty and student surveys concerning Memorial Day. The committee may also refine decisions concerning the 2008-2009 calendar.

Meeting adjourned at 11:50 am.