Guidelines for Setting University Academic Calendars

Faculty Senate Resolution #13-36
Approved by the Faculty Senate: March 19, 2013
Approved by the Chancellor: April 17, 2013

These guidelines are incorporated into each University academic calendar that is approved by the Faculty Senate and Chancellor.

1. * The Faculty Senate shall have the advice of a student-faculty committee on the calendar.
2. * The calendar shall include two semesters of 17 weeks each and a summer session of 11 weeks divided into two terms of approximately 5 ½ weeks.
3. ** The calendar shall provide a minimum of 750 minutes of instruction per credit hour (including final examinations).
4. Fall and spring semesters will include at least 14 Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. Each summer session will have 25 class days.
5. The start of fall semester will be scheduled at least two to three weeks after summer session final exams.
6. When appropriate, fall semester will include Labor Day as a holiday, a two-day break appended to a weekend in October, a Thanksgiving holiday beginning no later than 1:00 P.M. Wednesday before Thanksgiving and continuing through Saturday, and a Reading Day between the last day of classes and the beginning of exams.
7. When appropriate, spring semester will include Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Birthday and Good Friday as holidays, a break of one week, and a Reading Day between the last day of classes and the beginning of exams.
8. When appropriate, fall and spring semester exams will be scheduled on seven days, including Saturday, according to a rotation schedule. Exams for each summer session will be held on the day after the last class day.
9. Early registration for special populations will begin at 1 pm on the working day prior to the first day of early registration week.
10. Commencement will be scheduled at appropriate times at the end of both fall and spring semesters.
11. When appropriate, the start date for summer session will be scheduled four to seven days after spring commencement.
12. Independence Day and, when appropriate, Memorial Day will be scheduled as summer session holidays.
13. There will be at least one day between the end of first summer session and the start of second summer session
14. Revisions to approved and published academic calendars will be handled through the Academic Calendar Committee, Faculty Senate, and Chancellor; with the Chancellor maintaining final approval.

*Mandated by UNC General Administration on February 3, 1971
**Mandated by UNC General Administration on December 31, 2001

Guidelines for Scheduling Lecture and Discussion Classes

Fall and Spring Semester Classes

To facilitate timely matriculation of students it is important that class scheduling be coordinated. Having a scheduled gap between classes allows students time to move from one class to another. Lecture/discussion classes with more than 90 contact minutes per meeting should be lengthened in their scheduling to include one or more breaks of ten or fifteen minutes.

Three semester-hour credit lecture/discussion classes meeting on a Monday, Wednesday, and Friday sequence should start on the hour and be scheduled for fifty minutes. Three semester-hour credit classes meeting on a Tuesday and Thursday sequence should start at 8:00, 9:30, 11:00, 12:30 or 14:00 and be scheduled for seventy-five minutes. Three semester-hour credit classes meeting on Monday and Wednesday afternoons may start on the hour or half hour and should be scheduled for seventy-five minutes. Lecture/discussion classes that are not three semester-hour credit and meet for fifty minutes on Tuesday or Thursday should start at 8:00, 10:00, 11:00, 13:00 or 14:00 so as not to overlap more than one of the three semester-hour time-slots.

In order to allow greater flexibility in scheduling late afternoon and evening classes and since the availability of classrooms is less of a problem at those times, classes that have starting times of 2:30 p.m. or later are not subject to the guideline restrictions for scheduling class meeting times. Suggested times for three semester-hour courses:

• MWF 8:00 – 8:50
• MWF 9:00 – 9:50
• MWF 10:00 – 10:50
• MWF 11:00 – 11:50
• MWF 12:00 – 12:50
• MWF 13:00 – 13:50
• MWF 14:00 – 14:50
• TTh 8:00 – 9:15
• TTh 9:30 – 10:45
• TTh 11:00 – 12:15
• TTh 12:30 – 13:45
• TTh 14:00 – 15:15
• MW 14:00 – 15:15

Summer Session Classes

On October 15, 1979, the Graduate Council passed the policy that “no graduate or senior-graduate courses be offered granting more than one semester hour of credit per week of classes without the specific approval of the Credit Committee of the Graduate Council before this course is scheduled.” On December 5, 1995, The Faculty Senate passed a resolution (95-44) that stated “At least one calendar week of reflection and analysis should be provided to students for each semester hour of undergraduate credit awarded.”

In order to have the contact minutes during the summer sessions be consistent with 750 contact minutes per credit hour during a regular semester, the following table indicates how long class meetings should last according to their contact hours (50 minute periods) during the regular semester and the number of class meetings each week during the summer:

Summer session days per week and total classes

Class meetings of more than 90 minutes should include one or more breaks included in their scheduled times (as night classes during the regular semester that meet 6:30 to 9:30 have 30 minutes of breaks included in their scheduled time). The three times in the 4-day summer schedule that are not exact should be rounded to 35, 110, and 185 minutes. Classes that meet once a week during the regular semester (e.g., labs) could match their 15 regular semester meetings (including final exams) by meeting three times a week during the summer session for the same class length as during a regular semester.

Since most courses carry three semester hours credit, they should meet for either 90 minutes five days per week (morning) or 110 minutes (plus break) four days per week (afternoon or evening). Consideration should be given to offering several night classes meeting four days each week for students who are employed. The following guidelines indicate starting and ending times for three credit hour classes; other classes should either start at a three credit hour class starting time or end at a three credit hour ending time.

11-Week Summer Session Classes

On October 15, 1979, the Graduate Council passed the policy that “no graduate or senior-graduate courses be offered granting more than one semester hour of credit per week of classes without the specific approval of the Credit Committee of the Graduate Council before this course is scheduled.” On December 5, 1995, The Faculty Senate passed a resolution (95-44) that stated “At least one calendar week of reflection and analysis should be provided to students for each semester hour of undergraduate credit awarded.”

In order to have the contact minutes during the summer sessions be consistent with 750 contact minutes per semester hour during a regular semester, the following table indicates how long class meetings should last according to their contact hours (50 minute periods) during the regular semester and the number of class meetings each week during the summer:

Summer session days per week and total classes

Class meetings of more than 90 minutes should include one or more breaks included in their scheduled times (as night classes during the regular semester that meet 6:30 to 9:30 have 30 minutes of breaks included in their scheduled time). Classes that meet once a week during the regular semester (e.g., labs) could match their 14 regular semester meetings by meeting twice a week during the first three weeks of the summer and once a week the last eight weeks.

Since most courses carry three semester hours credit, they should meet for 60 minutes four days per week or 75 minutes three days per week or 120 minutes (including break) two days per week. Final exams should be given during a minimum time period of 90 minutes on the last day of the summer session. Consideration should be given to offering several night classes meeting two, three, or four days each week for students who are employed.

The following guidelines indicate recommended starting times for classes in order not to interfere with the five week summer sessions classes.