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The Board of Trustees approved a finalized version of the newly reinstated winter calendar last month including a 6-week winter intersession, tweaks to session dates and the elimination of a second summer intersession.
The approval of the calendar comes after the July decision by the Public Employment Relations Board that the district violated the law when eliminating the winter intersession in the 2012-2013 academic year.

The new calendar won’t see any overlap with the 2015-16 calendar and there will still be two sessions this coming summer just like previous years. The fall 2016 semester will start on Aug. 29, within a few days of the second summer session coming to a close, and end Dec. 18.

The newly reinstated winter intersession will start on Jan. 9 and conclude on Feb. 16, right before President’s Day weekend.

The biggest difference students will see is the beginning date of the spring 2017 semester, which will begin on Feb. 21 instead of mid-January like this coming spring semester. Final exams will be from June 12 to June 18 instead of in the beginning of May and the single, 9-week summer 2017 intersession will begin on June 26, with 6-week course offerings.

Dr. Robert Bell, the assistant superintendent of academic and student affairs, said that while they project the transition to the new calendar should be smooth, some students may need to change their academic plans to accommodate for the loss of one of the summer sessions next year.

“Students who will be completing their academic careers here in 2017 will probably end up doing some of that work in the winter intersession of 2017,” said Bell. “So educational plans will need to be reviewed with students.”

Cynthia Olivo, the associate vice president of student affairs, said that the loss of one summer session shouldn’t adversely affect too many students in their education planning, as counselors rarely suggest taking both 6-week summer sessions back to back.

“There should always be a small break in the summer, if possible, for a student to refresh and then come back for fall,” said Olivo. “If a student does find that they have a plan where they are going to be impacted they should come to see a counselor.”

If students have any questions about their academic plan and how the calendar change may affect them, they can speak with a counselor on a drop-in basis by visiting counseling services in the L building Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. or Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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