Faculty Senate matching calendar with classes

By Tiffanie Reynolds | gargoyle@flagler.edu

Starting fall 2013, students may be seeing more days off in the school year.

The academic calender resolution, passed by the Faculty Senate September 14, is planning to bring two extra holidays in the fall and three holidays in the spring. Along with Martin Luther King Jr. Day, it adds Labor Day, Veterans Day, Presidents Day, and one more day to Thanksgiving break and Spring break. It also gives students the Thursday and Friday before finals off as study days.

The resolution also proposes that the school year will start a week earlier in the fall and end a week later in the spring. More time will be added to finals as well, extended to two and a half hours.

“We’re demanding more of the students and also demanding more of the faculty. You need to have some time to process information and material,” said Andrea McCook, associate professor of Theatre Arts and one of the sponsors of the resolution.

Many students agree with the proposed changes.

“It’s much more practical because we will get a thorough education with a longer semester,” said Elise Dauphinee, a sophomore English major.

Changes to the academic calender have been discussed in the Faculty Senate for two years. It was introduced Spring 2009 and tabled until this fall. The final resolution, formed as a compromise of three different resolutions, was finally voted on after an open forum at the beginning of this year.

“The senate needed to get to a certain point of maturity before we can talk about something this big,” said Jim Wilson, professor of English and another sponsor of the resolution.

The biggest reason that kept the changes under debate was the advantage Flagler students had in internships. Flagler College’s long summers made many students an asset to companies offering internships.

The resolution is currently being considered by President William Abare and the President’s Cabinet. Made up of department heads and deans, the cabinet will determine how the changes will impact each major. If recommended by President Abare and passed by the Board of Trustees, the new calender will be in implemented in the 2013-2014 school year.