1. A Fair Fall for All A Working Joint Proposal by the Undergraduate Student Councils on the Fall Academic Calendar Respectfully Submitted by Sue Yang President, Columbia College Student Council Whitney Green President, Engineering Student Council Katie Palillo President, Barnard Student Government Association Katherine Edwards President, General Studies Student Council Alex Frouman Senator, Columbia College

2. Why is this Important to Students? Impacts on Academics, Health, Family, and Travel

3. Students Voice Concerns Council-Sponsored Survey 745 responses By School 74% CC 16% SEAS 8% GS 2% Barnard By Year 17% Seniors 26% Juniors 28% Sophomores 28% First-Years Student-Initiated Facebook Petition Launched independently by students, Dec. 2009 As of 1/24/10: 2,414 members = 25% entire undergraduate population

4. Academic Impact “How many exams did you have on the following days?” Respondents Dates

5. Academic Impact “For how many final exams/papers did you feel you were NOT prepared?” Respondents # Final Exams / Papers

6. Academic Impact “If you had one more day to study (3 instead of 2), how would you have used the time?”

7. Health Impact “How would you rate your stress level during the following times of the year?” During Fall 2009 finals period During semester, on average During normal finals period

8. Travel Impact 51% of students left campus on Wed. Dec. 23 It cost more to travel this time for 52% of students surveyed 51% 19% 15%

9. Travel Impact “To where were you traveling?” 33% Travel international or to the West coast 13% Travel international

10. Travel Impact “How much did you pay to travel home/away for winter break?” 20% Paid Over $500.00

11. Family Impact The late conclusion of the semester interrupted family plans for 78% of students surveyed.

12. Including all Stakeholders Students remain top priority for the undergraduate councils, but other stakeholders have also been included and taken into consideration.

13. Including StakeholdersInformation collected and funneled from various groups to understand needs, constraints Some Faculty Senate Edu. Grad. Apts Athle- tics Health Servics Students Faculty & Admin. Other CU Members Logistics Main Findings, Issues Raised

14. Clarifying the Problem With constraints and needs identified, areas of compression and flexibility can be better targeted in the calendar

15. Within a 1-Year Frame August September December November December FIXED Thanksgiving Week before Labor Day Study Days / Finals Fall Break Faculty proposal suggests removing Monday of this fall break. Students react with strong disagreement. All: Agree that we should try to end before 12/23. Students: 87% of students surveyed would support starting before Labor Day Faculty: Starting before Labor Day is hard for those with children PROPOSED SOLUTION: Start a week earlier to end a week earlier in SOME years

16. BUT looking only at a 1-year time frame is incorrect and doesn’t allow for much flexibility to accommodate all stakeholders. It mistakenly assumes every year to be the exact same.A10-year outlookis truer to the situation, accounting for nuances from year to year.It becomes clear: the fall semester calendar is only a problem in some years.

17. 4 / 10 Years End on Dec 232 / 10 Years Especially Problematic 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 Fall semester ends on 12/23 in these years, according to the current plan Especially compressed: Additionally, 2 total days must be cut, either both from study period or 1 from study period and 1 from exam period

18. Proposal Adjust for years only in which Labor Day falls late in September.

19. Start one week earlier in just: 2011 2015 2016 2020

20. 2011-2020 Fall Academic Calendars Fall 2012 Fall 2013 Fall 2014 Fall 2011 Fall 2015 Fall 2017 Fall 2018 Fall 2019 Fall 2016 Fall 2020 Shifting the fall calendar one week earlier in just these 4 years alleviates the compression that would otherwise be experienced at the end of these 4 fall terms.

21. Comparisons Against Current Cal. How Columbia’s Fall 2010 calendar (which we are not looking to change) compares with that of other Ivies and NYC Public Schools.

25. In Comparison with other Ivies(Princeton & Dartmouth are not included as they follow a trimester system) FALL 2010 AS EXAMPLE: SEP OCT NOV DEC AUG COLUMBIA 7 1-2 25-28 14-15 16-23 Brown 6 1 11 24-28 4-8 9-17 Cornell 25 6 9-12 24-29 5-8 8-17 Harvard 12 11 26-29 4-12 13-21 6 1 UPenn 8 9-12 24-29 11-14 15-22 Yale 19-29 3-10 6 1 11-18 Thanksgiving Labor Day Study Days Days Off During Semester Start Date Final Exam Period & End Date

26. In Comparison with NYC Public Schools FALL 2010, AS EXAMPLE: (again, we are not proposing to make any changes to this year) SEP OCT NOV DEC AUG 7 25-28 14-15 16-23 COLUMBIA 1-2 Actual: What it would have looked like under the proposal: 30 25-28 14-15 16-23 COLUMBIA 1-2 6 NYC Public 9-10 8 11 2 11 25-28 23 Thanksgiving Labor Day Study Days Days Off During Semester Start Date Final Exam Period & End Date Faculty with children would have needed childcare on 5 days (8/30, 8/31, 9/1, 9/2, 9/3). Columbia provides a Backup Care Program that helps subsidize up to 100 hours of family care each year beginning on July 1. According to the Work-Life Office, starting a week early would require more funding for this program or the creation of a day camp or childcare program for that week.

27. FLEXIBILITYexists if we consider the nuances from year to year over 10 years.A FAIRsolution for all can be achieved. Starting a week in advance just in the few years when Labor Day falls late (Sep. 5th or later, we have found), alleviates the compression at the end of the fall term, allows for an earlier conclusion, and does not require permanent compromises.TheFALLsemester can work for all by just adjusting the start dates for FOUR of the years.