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Calendar Proposal

Until a vaccine or a cure for COVID-19 is available, public health officials continue to predict that future waves of illness will occur, particularly during the winter months. This proposal suggests adaptations to the 2020-21 academic calendar* that will help to minimize face-to-face instruction in December and January, while at the same time providing a flexible array of scheduling options that preserves the requisite number of overall instructional hours required for regional accreditation.  

*Excludes professional programs in the School of Dentistry, School of Medicine, Maurer School of Law, Robert H. McKinney School of Law, and the School of Optometry. In addition, the entire IU Fort Wayne campus and all Kelley Direct / Online MBA programs are excluded.

Proposal Highlights

  • The academic year begins and ends with face-to-face classes available, maintaining the originally scheduled start date of August 24, 2020, and end date of May 9, 2021.
  • As is the case now, the fall and spring semester can be divided into 2 8-week terms (enabling “late start” courses to be offered).
  • Fall classes ideally will end by the Friday before Thanksgiving (11/20, with finals administered from 11/21-11/24) after 13 weeks of instruction
  • Fall classes that must extend for 16 weeks will be online for the final 3 weeks of the semester
  • 2 (optional) 3-week “winter term” sessions will be offered in December and January, respectively, offered entirely online
  • The spring term will begin entirely online one week later than usual (1/18/21), shifting when possible to face-to-face after 2/8/21.
  • There would be no Fall Break, Spring Break, or other days off (e.g., Labor Day) to maximize instructional time.

Read the Full Proposal