Many students may not be aware they will have a longer break this summer.
The University of Wyoming has made changes to the academic calendar that will be in place from this fall until the year 2020. Instead of starting in the beginning of May and concluding near the end of August, the break will extend from mid-May until the start of September.
Other modifications have been implemented as well. The winter vacation will be slightly longer, although it has also shifted. The recess will now exist from mid-December until the end of January.
According to Vice President of Academic Affairs Maggi Murdock, the calendar change is meant to be helpful for students. She said the hope is to provide more time for winter classes, as well as conform summer break to better accommodate June through August internships.
“One of the main reasons [for the change] was really to help the students in that summer period of time because a lot of jobs and internships don’t start that early in May and this gives students a full three months,” Murdock said. “We wanted to provide more time for students to finish up internships in the summer.”
As an added perk, the university will now be on a similar schedule to some of the Wyoming community colleges. For example, according to the Central Wyoming Community College academic calendar, the school follows a strikingly similar semester schedule to the one that will be instigated at the university this fall.
“It’s really helpful if the community colleges have a similar schedule,” Murdock said. “We have a lot of students who are both community college students and university students through our outreach school, so it helps if all the vacations and breaks line up.”
UW student Dan Susen is optimistic about the calendar alterations. He said he was grateful the university designed this new schedule with the students in mind.
“I fully support it [the calendar change]. It’s nice they put the students first,” Susen said. “Given the climate of this area, you’re able to enjoy the weather in a place you call home with these changes.”
There are several important dates to remember for this upcoming school year. Fall classes begin Sept. 3, fall finals end on Dec. 19, spring classes start Jan. 26 and spring finals end May 15.
