BOG Slated to Review Length of School Year

Gretchen Bataille, UNC-system vice president for academic affairs, will submit a proposal to the BOG's planning committee this week that would allow each UNC-system school to create its own academic calendars.

Bataille's proposal would reduce the minimum amount of class time to 750 minutes per credit hour earned, which would include exam days.

UNC-system schools currently have to offer 75 class days a semester, excluding exam periods.

Bataille said the proposal would allow UNC-system schools to reduce the required amount of class time by one week each semester by including examination periods as part of the total number of minutes.

UNC-system students attend school about two weeks more than students at comparable schools -- a scenario that Bataille said creates many problems, including a lack of adequate time for students taking classes in summer school or participating in summer internships.

She also said UNC-Chapel Hill's longer calendar makes it more difficult for the campus to integrate and collaborate with other institutions through programs like the Robertson Scholarship Program, a joint undergraduate program with Duke University.

Sue Estroff, UNC-CH Faculty Council chairwoman, said Bataille's proposal was encouraging. The Faculty Council approved a resolution in September asking the BOG to shorten the academic year.

"This is exactly what we wanted," Estroff said. "It's best for the faculty and the students."

She said many professors at UNC-CH feel limited in their ability to research and examine possible course improvements because of the 150-day calendar.

Estroff said Bataille's proposal would give professors more freedom in organizing their class schedule to better suit their individual students and subject matter.

"What's best for the learning environment is autonomy for the instructor," Estroff said. "You want structure, but you don't want it to be too rigid."

Estroff said the Faculty Council has been working for these changes ever since then-UNC-system President C.D. Spangler increased the academic calendar from 140 to 150 days in 1996.

But she said previous proposals to reduce the required number of classroom days met with staunch political opposition.

"It was very politically unpopular," Estroff said. "People didn't read or understand the situation.

"They thought (the faculty) just wanted to get out of work."

But Bataille stated in her proposal that the change in the academic calendar would not affect the length of professorial appointments. She said her proposal, if adopted, would make the UNC system comparable to other institutions of higher education.

"It's very consistent with modern educational methods that focus on performance and technology," Bataille said.

Although some program directors at UNC-CH and other system schools have voiced opposition to reforming the academic calendar in the past, Bataille said she has encountered no opposition thus far.

The proposal could be approved by both the planning committee and the full BOG this week.

The State & National Editor can be reached at stntdesk@unc.edu.