Later fall start recommended: FSEC supports beginning Sept. 2

A recommendation from the Calendar Commission that would start the fall 1997 semester on Tuesday, Sept. 2, was supported by President William R. Greiner and members of the Faculty Senate Executive Committee at the committee's Oct. 30 meeting.

Greiner is expected to make a final decision on the 1997-98 academic calendar after receiving input he has requested from UB's deans. Starting classes before Labor Day is "an anomaly that we're stuck with for a whole variety of reasons," Greiner said at the meeting. "But every four or five years the calendar falls in such a way that classes can begin after Labor Day and the university still can meet state guidelines requiring 15 weeks of instruction per semester, including exam days.

"When you get a shot at it, the way we have this year, it seems to me we ought to take that," he said.

FSEC members agreed, voting overwhelmingly in a non-binding, straw poll to support the draft calendar that would start the semester on Sept. 2 and end it on Saturday, Dec. 20. The spring 1988 semester would run from Tuesday, Jan. 20, 1998, through Thursday, May 14. Commencement weekend would be held from May 15-17.

The Calendar Commission also had submitted a second draft calendar in which the fall semester would start a week before Labor Day and the spring semester would start on Jan. 12, with commencement set for May 10. The commission had proposed this calendar to the FSEC at its Oct. 9 meeting, but the group asked the commission to reconsider the proposal, citing concerns that the earlier-than-usual calendars have been sent to the deans for their consideration, said Donna Rice, associate vice president for student affairs and a member of the Calendar Commission. Greiner is expected to make a final decision on the calendar after receiving input from the deans.

Faculty members reiterated their opposition to a spring semester that started a week earlier than usual.

"The idea of the extra time in January, given the intersession shutdown or the periods of time when some parts of the university are not available, to a lot of folks, myself included, the period of time after you come back in January is when you hurry up and write those papers and proposals before the onslaught of the second semester," noted Robert Wetherhold, associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering. "So that was a block of time that was kind of important to keep and that was why some people were interested in having a longer period of time then when you don't have to be teaching."

"As a faculty member, making sure that one does faculty things, it's important to have that space (between semesters)," added William Miller, professor of stomatology, noting that the Professional Staff Senate also has "reacted very strongly to having a short intersession period."

Nicolas Goodman, vice provost for undergraduate education and a member of the Calendar Commission, noted that there are things that need to be done between the fall and spring semesters, such as recording grades and conducting the academic review, that take a certain amount of administrative time.

"I'm worried that if we follow your first suggestion and end the fall semester in accordance with our second draft (on Dec. 20), then I'm uncomfortable with starting the (spring) semester quickly because there isn't time to do all these things."

Greiner agreed. "If we do push a little bit to start after Labor Day, trying to do the earlier start-up in the spring really does compress things too much."

The FSEC also had asked the Calendar Commission to reconsider the issue of the university not observing the second day of Rosh Hashanah. Herbert Schuel, professor of anatomical sciences, said UB was placing itself at a disadvantage in the competition for undergraduate students because its peer institutions within the SUNY system are observing the day.

Greiner said the issue was considered "exhaustively" a year ago when the current compromise-in which only the first day of Rosh Hashanah is observed as a religious holiday-was reached. Some of UB's peer institutions, which, Greiner pointed out, encompass more than just SUNY schools, don't observe Rosh Hashanah at all. Moreover, university policy insists faculty make accommodations for students' religious beliefs.

"I think that issue was put to bed a year ago; I see no reason to reopen it," he said.