The University Senate of Michigan Technological University proposes that the following principles be used to determine the University's annual academic calendar.

• Each semester shall have 14 weeks of instruction, minus the following holidays: Labor Day/K-Day (1), and Homecoming (.5) in the Fall, and Martin Luther King Day (.5) and Winter Carnival (2) in the Spring. The total number of instructional days shall be 136.

• Each semester, comprised of instructional days, holidays, and a one-week break, shall begin on a Monday and continue for fifteen weeks followed by a maximum five-day examination period. The beginning of the Fall semester shall be scheduled so that the last day of exams shall fall on a date in the period from December 15 through December 22, inclusive. The Spring semester shall begin on the Monday that is 25 days later.

• Fall and Spring semesters shall each have a one week break. Break in the Fall shall be Thanksgiving week; Spring break shall fall at the midpoint of the semester.

• Summer sessions will include two different opportunities. The first shall be a 20-day intensive period of instruction beginning the second Monday after the end of Spring semester. This includes 18 days of instruction, the Memorial Day holiday and one final examination day. The second component of summer shall be a double-time summer semester of 36 days of instruction, the Fourth of July holiday and one final examination day. The summer semester shall begin on the Monday immediately after the end of the summer intensive period.

Proposal History

In Fall 1997, a Calendar Issues Clarification Committee (CICC) was formed to deal with the issues related to a shift form a quarter system to a semester calendar. The committee contained representatives from all segments of campus, including the Senate president. The CICC's main charge was to outline the consequences of a shift to semesters; it also identified the primary concerns voiced by students and other members of the campus community. The CICC's report was endorsed by the Board of Control, including a set of "boundary conditions" that identified the primary protections to be afforded students during the transition to a new calendar. The CICC also proposed tentative calendars in late fall and winter 1997, which were presented to and discussed by the Senate, without action requested. The CICC deferred making a final proposal until the General Education program was approved. The committee resumed meeting in November 1998, with additional members drawn from the Senate Instructional Policy and Academic Policy committees. The CICC reached consensus on this proposal.

The proposal was informally presented to the Senate on December 2, 1998, for general discussion.

Proposal died: February 3, 1999