2008 Woodie Awards
Fall calendar adds day for Veterans
Denise Anderson, Staff Writer
Issue date: 3/1/06 Section: News
An extra day has been added to the academic calendar in order to observe Nov. 11 as Veterans' Day, and the process of deciding which day should be added scratched the surface of a debate about the merits of scrapping the current Thanksgiving schedule, and turning the week into a spring-like break in order to give students more time to visit their families.
In fall 2005, the California legislature passed a bill-Assembly Bill (AB) 720-that mandated observance of Veteran's Day on all CSU campuses on Nov. 11, or as near to the date as possible. If it falls on a weekend, the holiday will be on Friday or Monday.
Prior to AB 720, Veterans' Day was a movable holiday used to accommodate campus academic calendars.
According to Michelle Jolly, chair of the University Standards Subcommittee, the date was previously inserted in the calendar during the week between Christmas and New Years so that SSU staff did not have to take an extra day of vacation in order to have that entire week off.
"There were a lot of variables to consider, but we had to move quickly because of the time constraints we were under," Jolly said.
In December, the committee was asked to modify the academic calendars for the 2006-2008 school years in order to accommodate an extra instructional day. The proposed calendar change went before the Academic Senate for a vote at the Feb. 9 Senate meeting. The rush to a decision was due to deadlines for the printing and mailing of catalogs and housing contracts. Admissions and Records had to schedule orientation dates as well, so incoming students could make plans to attend. "One of our options was to start the fall semester a day early," Jolly said. "That would reduce the amount of time faculty members had to complete research trips or conferences that are important, particularly to tenure-track faculty members."
Beginning the semester a day earlier would also interfere with fall Convocation.
The other option was to schedule classes on Wednesday during the week of Thanksgiving, a seemingly monumental task.
In fall 2005, the California legislature passed a bill-Assembly Bill (AB) 720-that mandated observance of Veteran's Day on all CSU campuses on Nov. 11, or as near to the date as possible. If it falls on a weekend, the holiday will be on Friday or Monday.
Prior to AB 720, Veterans' Day was a movable holiday used to accommodate campus academic calendars.
According to Michelle Jolly, chair of the University Standards Subcommittee, the date was previously inserted in the calendar during the week between Christmas and New Years so that SSU staff did not have to take an extra day of vacation in order to have that entire week off.
"There were a lot of variables to consider, but we had to move quickly because of the time constraints we were under," Jolly said.
In December, the committee was asked to modify the academic calendars for the 2006-2008 school years in order to accommodate an extra instructional day. The proposed calendar change went before the Academic Senate for a vote at the Feb. 9 Senate meeting. The rush to a decision was due to deadlines for the printing and mailing of catalogs and housing contracts. Admissions and Records had to schedule orientation dates as well, so incoming students could make plans to attend. "One of our options was to start the fall semester a day early," Jolly said. "That would reduce the amount of time faculty members had to complete research trips or conferences that are important, particularly to tenure-track faculty members."
Beginning the semester a day earlier would also interfere with fall Convocation.
The other option was to schedule classes on Wednesday during the week of Thanksgiving, a seemingly monumental task.