Although the UNC-system Board of Governors did not vote Friday on a committee's recommendation to give UNC-system campuses greater flexibility in setting the calendar, UNC-CH officials are predicting that two weeks will be trimmed from the schedule beginning in the 2003-04 school year.
The BOG Committee on Educational Planning, Policies and Programs adopted a resolution Thursday allowing UNC-system schools to include four exam days in the 75 days required each semester.
The full BOG did not vote on the resolution at Friday's meeting, but it is expected to take up the issue at its next meeting, scheduled for March.
University Registrar David Lanier, who heads the committee that recommends a calendar to the chancellor, said he looks forward to crafting an academic schedule with greater flexibility. "I think it's a very positive move," he said.
Lanier said he has heard almost entirely negative opinions of the longer calendar, initiated in 1996. He said many believe the additional instruction time is not worth the disadvantage students have in finding summer internships and jobs.
Eric Mlyn, director of the Robertson Scholar Program, said officials have had trouble coordinating the program because UNC-CH's longer calendar conflicts with that of Duke University, where Robertson Scholars also take classes. Duke began instruction one week after UNC-CH in fall 2001 and will end one week earlier this spring.
Although Mlyn said his office has no official position on the calendar's length, he said he is optimistic the BOG action will allow Robertson Scholar officials to better match the schools' schedules.
Sue Estroff, chairwoman of the Faculty Council, said she is delighted that the BOG is planning to include exam days in the class days required each semester.
She said this change will benefit both students and faculty. "Students will be able to participate in summer and between-semester projects with other universities, and it gives faculty more time to work on classes and write," Estroff said.
