2936
DOCUMENTS OF THE GENERAL FACULTY
CALENDAR COMMITTEE
REPORT ON SUMMER FRESHMAN CLASS CALENDAR
On behalf of the Calendar Committee, Chair Ted Odell (professor,
mathematics) has presented the following report for discussion
by the Faculty Council at its meeting on February 16, 2004.
<signed>
Sue Alexander Greninger, Secretary
The Faculty Council
Posted on the Faculty
Council Web site on February 12, 2004. Paper copies are available
on request from the Office of the General Faculty, FAC 22, F9500.
2937
CALENDAR COMMITTEE
REPORT ON SUMMER FRESHMAN CLASS CALENDAR
Calendar changes in Texas high schools have made it impossible
for some freshmen to start at UT Austin when our summer session
begins. However, some freshmen are required to enter the University
in the summer. In addition, they must take part in orientation
and testing the week prior to the beginning of classes. These
freshmen who are required to enter in the summer are called the
Summer Freshman Class.
The Colleges of Liberal Arts and Natural Sciences and the registrar’s
office have used ad hoc measures to accommodate these students.
Special sections have been created that follow a calendar different
from the options in UT's official calendar. The current official
options are designated f (first summer term),
s (second summer term), w (whole summer session),
and n (nine-week classes, beginning the same day as f/w classes).
The ad hoc Summer Freshman Class (SFC) sections have used the
w designation but have not followed the official
w calendar.
The summer session typically begins midweek. Students taking Summer
Freshman Classes this summer will have orientation the following
week, with classes beginning on the second Monday of the f/w terms.
The Calendar Committee would like to formally acknowledge these
classes and have them listed in the official University calendar.
Dates for registration, orientation, first and last class days,
and final exams for these classes would be included. Here are
some possible options. We seek feedback to help us decide which
option is best.
1) Add the SFC schedule to the published calendar
and continue to designate SFC classes with w.
Registration in SFC sections would be controlled by departments
as it is now. Registration would typically be closed by the department
during April (but might not be if the department allows continuing
students to take the class as well). The Course Schedule
could include wording to the effect that this course is restricted
to incoming freshmen if that is the case. The changes would be
minimal under this approach. We would just be seeking approval
of what is now being done.
2) Create a separate designation for SFC classes,
such as “t” for “ten-week classes.”
Then it would be easier to control registration in SFC classes,
since they would be separated from the usual w
classes; this might also be easier to manage. Classes that serve
continuing students as well would still have to have their registration
managed in some way. (It has been suggested that creation of a
new designation would introduce an extra cost, for new programming.
If there is support for this option, more research will be done.)
3) In addition to either 1 or 2, change the beginning
date for n classes to correspond to the beginning date
for SFC classes. The n classes would meet as
they do now except they would start later and their finals would
be a week and a half later than they are now, which is one week
before s/w/SFC finals. Finals
for SFC classes would continue to be at the same time as those
for s and w classes.
(We are not sure if this would create problems for some departments
and colleges. One reason for the change is that it would make
SFC and n classes easier to staff. Also, it could
save money for some departments by reducing the total number of
sections they would have to offer.)
4) A fourth option would be to change the starting
date of the n classes to the second Monday of the f/w
term and have them end with the s/w classes.
The n designation would then be used by both the SFC classes and
by current n classes. One advantage is that no
difficulties would ensue as they now do in scheduling final exams
for n classes. Conflicts that now exist for students
in, say, both n and s/w classes, are handled
as instructors see fit. In addition, this proposal would not require
the creation of a new designation.
In all of these options, SFC information would be included in
the official calendar.
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