Like Joe Dumas, I want to applaud the ad hoc committee on calendar
revision for their hard work. They certainly cannot satisfy all
constituencies. I am not sure, however, that I can support their
proposal at this point. I have three concerns.
First, the most controversial issue is what they committee proposes
about summer school. I like the idea of two 5.5 week terms, but not
the 11 week night course. That is simply too long. I doubt that many
faculty and, more important, many students will want to commit that
much time to a summer course. Moreover, summer school income is
important for many faculty and reducing opportunities to teach is not
a good thing. I suspect that they will be reduced significantly if we
adopt the proposed changes.
Second, I would rather not have that much time off between the fall
and spring semesters. Under the old system, exams for fall semester,
2005 end on December 13; the revised calendar would end them on the
same date. But classes for spring 2006 under the old system begin on
January 9; under the new system, they would begin on January 17. What
is the advantage in having the extra 8 days off at that time of year?
Third, I am not convinced that it is a good idea to shorten the
summer in the manner envisioned in the new calendar. Under the old
system, exams for spring 2006 end on May 2; the revised calendar ends
them on May 9. Personally, I appreciated in the past as much time off
as possible during the summers. I could combine long, research trips
out of town with some family vacation time. Granted, there is only a
difference of seven days, but that difference plus the longer
semester break relate to my last point.
I am wondering if there is not some way to shorten the time off
between fall and spring semesters proposed by the new calendar and
perhaps begin summer courses earlier so as to provide for two p.m.
summer terms. If that could be done, I think that it would be a lot
easier to gain a consensus in favor of the new calendar.
Mike Russell
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James M. (Mike) Russell
Department of History
Dept. Mail Code #2052
University of Tennessee, Chattanooga
Chattanooga, TN 37403
Phone: 425-4579
Home: 517-0645
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