A Welcome Change

In his recent e-mail to the Harvard community, Dean of Undergraduate Education Jay M. Harris announced that due to the "compressed pace of the fall semester that many of us felt this year and last," Harvard College will begin classes before Labor Day in certain years. For example, classes for the 2011-2012 academic year will start on Wednesday, Aug. 31, rather than Tuesday, Sept. 6. We applaud this calendar change for multiple reasons and are particularly pleased with the advance notice of Dean Harris's announcement, since it will allow students who must travel long distances to Cambridge sufficient time to make travel plans for the next academic year.

Ensuring that classes begin at a relatively early date will considerably reduce the stress felt by both students and staff at the College. The current calendar, which features final examinations just prior to the winter holidays, feels somewhat compressed. This is particularly stressful for many students whose midterms seem to stretch on for weeks at a time. By contrast, during the spring semester, the week-long recess allows both students and staff sufficient time to recover from the interminable block of midterm papers and exams and also creates a general structure for lecture courses and seminars alike. Considering that the fall semester would have been even shorter in the coming academic year than its current length, the adjustment seems particularly necessary.

We also hope that Harvard administrators will take the additional scheduling opportunities afforded by the lengthening of the semester to introduce more official breaks, since Harris made clear that added days will not be used for instruction. This could occur in the form of an extended Thanksgiving break or by lengthening either the Veterans' Day or Columbus Day weekends. Doing so would reduce the strain on students and staff to keep up with a relentless schedule. Midterm papers, projects, and exams could even be scheduled for immediately before the proposed Fall Break, enabling students to truly relax.

From an aesthetic perspective, starting the school year earlier also enables students to enjoy more of the beautiful weather that Cambridge offers during the summer. The Office of Admissions and Financial Aid is very fond of releasing publicity material that shows off the beauty of our campus; undergraduates deserve to experience the maximum amount of this for ourselves. Above all, however, we are very pleased to see that the College recognizes the structural problems that arose out of its recent calendar reform and are responding to student concerns in such a prompt fashion.