Ryan ChartrandFor Cal Poly students enrolled in summer quarter, this year’s summer vacation will have to be cut a day short. Rather than having a full week between quarters, the 3,102 students enrolled in summer school, as of May 23, will have six days off before they begin their new summer classes.
The alternative, however, was an even shorter break.
In a memo from Vice Provost for Academic Programs and Undergraduate Education David Conn to President Warren Baker, Conn recommended the summer schedule following a review process that included campus entities such as the Academic Senate’s Executive Committee, the Academic Senate Instruction Committee, Associated Students Inc., Academic Personnel, the Deans’ Council, Enrollment Support Services, the Foundation, Human Resources and Student Affairs.
The memo addressed key issues that needed to be resolved in choosing a calendar. One of those issues was a short break between spring and summer quarter if classes in the 10-week session were to end by Labor Day. Conn’s recommendation, which was approved by Baker, was to start summer quarter on Thursday instead of Tuesday and shorten the final exam period to three days.
“We need another week in the year,” said Kay Jensen, catalog editor and Conn’s assistant in “shepherding the calendar through the review process.”
The Thursday start is nothing new and happens on occasion, she said. “We can fudge a little bit on summer quarter, it’s pretty flexible.”
Electrical engineering senior Agustin Estrada said of the shorter summer break, “It doesn’t matter as long as there’s class; as long as I get my degree, that’s all I care about.”
“I thought it was a mistake or something,” architecture senior Karen Mitri said. “I’m used to Cal Poly breaks being short.”
“I thought that we’d have a week,” electrical engineering sophomore Marc Tapalla said. He added that his only problem with the schedule would be if he was burned out from spring finals and didn’t have enough time to recharge before summer classes start.
Another effect of the calendar is a shorter summer break in favor of a larger winter break.
The decision to start fall quarter early was highly influenced by the theatre and dance department. Many respondents to the proposed calendar had a preference for a late start in the fall, but theatre and dance’s argument for an early start to allow for adequate time for stage productions was “the most compelling case based on pedagogical considerations,” according to the memo.
Students planning to take summer courses next year will have a nine-day break following spring finals and classes will again begin on a Monday.