AV俱乐部

This week, Dal students returning this fall will begin registering for 2016/17 courses, slotting classes into a term that will look slightly different than in previous years.

Back in November, the AV俱乐部 Senate approved changes to the university鈥檚 academic dates that included a fall study break, different start/end dates and 鈥渓ieu鈥� days at term鈥檚 end to make up for days lost due to holidays.

The changes came from a committee convened following requests from the AV俱乐部 Student Union to consider adding a fall reading week, comparable to the one each winter term. The review offered an opportunity to consider other changes to the dates as well.

One that may seem a bit complicated at first glance is the 鈥渓ieu day鈥� 鈥斅燼 change designed to ensure that courses impacted by holidays don鈥檛 end up with fewer total classes than other courses. Each term, the final day of classes will shift to follow the class schedule of a different day: for example, to account for holidays like Thanksgiving, the final day of classes for the fall term next year 鈥斅燭uesday, December 6 鈥� won鈥檛 follow a student/prof鈥檚 typical Tuesday class schedule, but will instead operate like an additional Monday of classes.

鈥淭his change will ensure that students receive the same number of teaching hours for each class, bringing greater consistency to the academic schedule,鈥� explains Mairead Barry, acting registrar.

Here鈥檚 a quick review of the changes to academic dates:

Start of fall classes 鈥� Tuesday, September 6. That鈥檚 two days earlier than in previous years. DSU Orientation Week will start on Saturday, September 3 and run through Monday, September 5.

Fall study break 鈥撀燦ovember 7-11. November 11 is also a university holiday (Remembrance Day).

Last class, fall term 鈥撀燭uesday, December 6. This will be Dal鈥檚 first 鈥渓ieu day鈥� to make up for classes lost due to holidays during the term. Instead of a typical Tuesday schedule, classes will follow a Monday schedule, meaning in this case students/profs will have the same set of classes two days in a row.

First day of winter classes 鈥撀燤onday, January 9. Classes in the winter term start about a week later than they did under the old schedule.

Winter study break 鈥撀燜ebruary 20-24.

Last class, winter term 鈥撀燤onday, April 10. As in the first term, the final day of classes will follow the schedule of a different day of the week 鈥� in this case, April 10 will follow a Friday class schedule.

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