The University Council approved two changes in NIU’s academic calendar extending to the year 2003 at their March 9 meeting.

James Lankford, chairman of the UC Faculty Assembly University Affairs Committee, said the first change involves the starting date of the fall semester. The new policy states that in years when the last Monday in August falls on Aug. 30 or 31, the beginning of school will be moved to the preceding Monday.

Karyn Hopkins, a student member of the University Affairs committee, said this change was implemented so the end of the fall semester does not conflict with finals week or semester break.

Lankford said the UC also approved a change in the summer semester calendar. The summer session will now begin on the sixth Monday after the spring final exams week.

He said this change was made so academic departments can use the period between the spring and summer semesters for faculty workshops and programs.

Other summer changes include the elimination of the modular schedule system, which breaks the summer semester into three four-week sessions. NIU will now resume its eight-week summer schedule. Lankford said this was done to decrease air conditioning and janitorial services and to avoid conflict with students from other schools taking summer classes at NIU.

Lankford said the calendar is planned so far in advance to ease administrative duties. “It allows us to plan on a long term basis,” he said.

“My committee has had the responsibility of putting the calendar together two years in advance. This (planning the calendar until 2003) was done so we don’t have to go back over the same discussions,” Lankford said.

Any changes needed on future calendars could be made quickly, Lankford said. “It would depend on how immediate the situation would be,” he said.

Richard Durfee, a committee member, said he believes the new schedule is “an excellent academic calendar.”

Durfee said planning 15 years ahead is “not an uncommon occurrence” and it is helpful to be able to look ahead that far in advance.

Lankford said the College of Law has a different academic calendar than the rest of NIU. Law students begin one week earlier in the fall and end one week later in the spring.

Lankford said this is done to allow students more reading days to prepare for final exams and to bring the program to accreditation standards.