Council leaders present proposed calendar to USenate

The presence of student council leadership at this afternoon’s University Senate meeting added a new perspective to the Senate's ongoing debate over revision of the academic calendar.

College Student Council President Sue Yang, CC ’10, and Engineering Student Council President Whitney Green, SEAS ’10, along with Columbia College senator Alex Frouman, CC ’12 and Business school senator Tao Tan, CC '07 and MBA '11 presented their solution for starting the fall semester a week before Labor Day. Education Committee co-chair James Applegate, professor of astronomy, advocated for the preservation of the current calendar in light of some faculty objection to the student proposal. Reform of the academic calendar has been the charge of the committee since late-January.

“In the report by Jim Applegate it seems to refer to this as a done deal, that the status quo wins," Tan said. “And we’re here to say the situation is not black and white.”

This was the first time either Yang or Green has spoken to the Senate and as non-senators, were given the floor by unanimous consent and framed the issue in wide terms.

“We recognize while we have the responsibility of voicing the concerns and sentiments of our constituents, we also recognize that this really is a University-wide issue,” said Green.

The students’ limited early start proposal, a joint product of the undergraduate student councils, recommends beginning the fall semester a week before Labor Day every four out of ten years. This would alleviate the compression that would otherwise end finals on December 23rd if the fall semester began after Labor Day. Under their plan, Columbia would start by August 29th at the earliest. It has been approved by CCSC, ESC, and the Student Government Association and will be likely put to a vote by the General Studies Student Council within the next two weeks.

According to Tan, a recent vote by the Arts and Sciences department chairs “showed unanimous support for not ending on the 23rd.”

But according to Applegate, the proposed calendar would put stress on faculty.

"Starting before Labor Day is a burden on these people and an obstacle in their road [to tenure]," he said.

University President Lee Bollinger voiced his support of including student opinion in the proceedings.

“We thought the best way to deal with this is to make sure the student perspective is given the opportunity to be expressed. There is a committee, there is a process for thinking about these issues and we really respect that process, but we also want to hear from people who feel very strongly about issues. And this is one.”